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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27159044">A Past Left Forgotten</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Saturn/pseuds/Dark_Saturn'>Dark_Saturn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>X-men Dungeons and Dragons Campaign [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>X-Men - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:48:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>26,097</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27159044</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Saturn/pseuds/Dark_Saturn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dani, a young mutant, was found alone in the woods by the X-Men with no memory of how she got there or of her past in general. Plagued by nightmares, that may or may not be related to her past, she spends 2 years at the Institute until one day strangers from her past come knocking and Dani is thrown into her nightmares. While learning about parts of her forgotten past, she makes an unlikely friend in the process, and Dani realizes, some things should be left forgotten.</p><p>This has original work, but mainly follows the movie plot of X2 X-men United, including major dialogue, and follows the OC Dani. This series starts as my character's backstory and will eventually follow ideas from the X-men Dungeon and Dragons homebrew campaign I'm in and I have permission from the other players to use their characters in the upcoming installments.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>X-men Dungeons and Dragons Campaign [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1982410</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I awake, sneezing to the overwhelming scents of wet earth, trees, and blood, to find myself lying on the ground of a hardwood forest, utterly alone. I panic and feel tears well up in my eyes as I take in my surroundings, noting that it looks like the beginning stages of autumn. “Where am I, who am I”, I think, panicking more, “why am I alone?” A cool breeze blows across my skin and, while it didn’t make me shiver, it does make me realize that I am naked as well as covered in blood. “Who would leave me out here all alone and covered in blood”, I wonder aloud, struggling to get to my feet. My body feels like it weighs a ton but, with some effort, I am able to start walking away from the place I woke up. I hear the sound of running water and make myself head in the direction of the sound, hoping it will lead me to civilization. I never make it. After walking for a bit, I collapse on the ground to cover my ears.</p><p>	Voices, a multitude of voices can be heard echoing as if a large group of people were surrounding me and screaming incoherent words at the same time. Covering my ears does nothing to quiet the voices and, in fear, I realize that there is nobody around to hear. “Why am I hearing voices”, I cry in pain, “am I crazy” before I start screaming in terror when the leaves on the forest floor start swirling around me in a mini tornado. What terrifies me the most is I can tell it’s not the wind because in the maelstrom I see branches, rocks, and even a few squirrels mixed in with the leaves. My breathing speeds up, and with it the whirlwind, as the voices get louder to the point I can start to make out words and individual voices in the confusing chorus. One voice stands apart from the rest and suddenly, the voices fade until it is the only voice to remain. “It’s alright child, you’re safe now and we are coming to get you”, the voice of a man says in my head. The whirlwind slows around me until everything drops to the ground and I’m hit with a wave of exhaustion. “Who are you”, I ask, tired and confused as the sound of a plane is heard overhead. “I am Charles Xavier, and I can help you”, he answers kindly but, before I can reply, I pass out.</p><p>	When I awake again, I find myself in a room that looks like a hospital and the feeling of dread washes over. I have the overwhelming need to flee this room and fail to notice that I am not alone. A woman, with pretty red hair, tries to say something but only goes to startle me instead. I jump off the metal table I am lying on, bolting for the one and only door out of the room when the lady cuts me off in an effort to stop me. “No, go away”, I yell, pushing her and she goes flying across the room into a wall with a groan. I don’t stop to wonder what just happened, but instead run from the room into a brightly, lit hallway. I see a large, metal door with a big X on it and run towards it in hopes that it is a way out. I try to open the door, but it won’t budge and even states “access denied” in a female voice. I turn back the way I came only to find that lady has just exited the hospital room and is coming towards me. “Calm down, no one is trying to hurt you”, she says and I think, “no way lady”, before running towards another door off the right of the weird X door.</p><p>	I find myself in a hanger with a spaceship and I moan, “no, no, no”, as flashes of strange figures in space suits fill my head. My moan alerts a man with red glasses to my presence, who I had not noticed until he stood up, and he shouts, “hey, what are you doing inside here?” He starts coming towards me as I back away in fear right into the lady with red hair. “Scott, help me”, she says and it’s then I notice that she is holding a ginormous needle. The man, Scott, grabs ahold of me and the lady tries to stick me with her needle. I scream, then watch in confusion as the needle breaks as if it hit an invisible wall. “What the hell” Scott says before a force wells up inside me and blasts him away. “How did I do that”, I think, feeling tired and wired at the same time. The lady, at this point, seems torn between grabbing me or helping Scott, who I just sent flying like a ragdoll across the room. I use her hesitation to scurry pass, which snaps her from her dilemma, and tries to grab me to prevent my escape. “Leave me alone”, I shout and she goes flying towards Scott, who just stood up, knocking them both to the ground. Without hesitation, I run down the hall away from them and have a section of the wall open up to reveal an elevator.</p><p>	I enter the elevator, praying it’s not a trap, and push a random button on the panel. The door closes and I feel the elevator rise before stopping on the next floor. The door slides open and I exit to find myself in an ordinary hallway that looks like the inside of a massive house. “Where am I”, I think when I yelp in pain as voices fill my head. I pick up a few mundane words, such as homework and studying, before the cacophony reaches the overwhelming level it was in the woods. “Are you alright”, I hear someone ask above the noise and I look up to see a different lady staring at me in confusion. She has white hair, I notice, before I run away from her and enter the first room I see, slamming the door behind me. I register that I am in a library before the pain and confusion of the voices drops me to my knees. I cover my ears in hopes that it will soften the voices, but to no avail. I close my eyes, hearing books start to rattle on the shelves, when I feel a hand gently place itself upon my head and the voices fade away once more. I look up, tears blurring my vision slightly, to find myself staring at a bald man with a kind smile sitting in front of me in a wheelchair. “There, that’s better now I suppose”, he says warmly and I realize that it’s the same voice as the man in the wood’s. “Xavier”, I ask, confused, before I feel a prick in my neck and fall unconscious.</p><p>	I find myself in a soft, comfortable bed when I awaken and start to sit up only for Xavier to say, “please, don’t get up my dear. I don’t know how you’re awake with the amount of sedative Jean gave you. She was afraid she overdosed you with how quickly you dropped but, nevertheless, there’s most likely still some in your system.” “Jean”, I ask in confusion, feeling a bit woozy from the sedative, “who is she?” “Ah, yes, you didn’t get properly introduced,” Xavier says with understanding, “she was”, putting a finger to his temple, “the lady with pretty red hair”, he finishes. “How”, “did I know that”, he says, finishing my sentence, causing my mouth to drop. “I will explain everything if you can tell me anything you can recall when you first woke up here”, he continues, “don’t worry if it seems impossible or out of the ordinary.” I sit myself up on the bed, despite Xavier’s warning, because trying to talk to him while lying down was awkward. “I sent the lady, Jean, flying, twice, though I barely touched her and blasted the man with red glasses across the room when he grabbed me,” I reply. “I hope they’re okay and I didn’t hurt them”, I think, feeling bad when Xavier responds, “ don’t worry, they are both all right”, with a smile.</p><p>	“Can you…read my mind”, I ask him, hesitantly and he nods. “Indeed I can child”, he confirms before explaining, “ you see I am, what the public refer to as, a mutant and my gift is telepathy, or the ability to read minds.” I jump a little when the small bedside table’s lamp is sent tumbling to the floor with a crash and he comments, “it would appear your gifts are mental based as well. You’ve demonstrated both telepathy and telekinesis since you’ve arrived, though it would appear to react to your stronger emotions. However, with time and practice, you will learn to control both.” “I did that”, I ask in wonder, pointing to the now broken lamp before realizing he mentioned telepathy as well. “So are you saying the voices I was hearing before were people’s thoughts, not their speaking voices” I ask and, when he nods again, say, “well that explains why covering my ears didn’t help. Wait,” I add, realizing I am no longer hearing them now, “how come they come and go? When I first woke up downstairs I heard nothing until I came upstairs where I was bombarded, but now it’s gone back to nothing again.” “That is due to me placing a temporary barrier on your mind to prevent you from hearing the others’ thoughts”, he tells me, “ it was in the best interest for yourself and others considering the pain kept setting off your telekinesis.” I go to ask him more questions, but he raises his hand to signal me to wait.</p><p>	“I know you probably have many questions you want answered”, he says kindly, wheeling himself closer to the bed, “but so do I.” He sees me panic and adds, gently, “don’t worry, these questions should be easy for you to answer, I hope. Do you know what your name is my dear and how old you are?” “I’m”, I falter, “I’m… I don’t know the answer to either of those questions. Why can’t I remember” I ask, my breathing speeding up as I panic and hear objects start to rattle in the room in response. “Calm down and take deep breaths”, he says, soothingly, “ it’s fine if you don’t remember. While you were sedated, I took the liberty of exploring your mind in hopes of finding answers, but instead, I found a scattered mess. I have seen this before and believe that you may have suffered a severe trauma, whether it be mental, physical, or both, and in an effort to preserve yourself, you’ve blocked out everything.” “Will I ever remember”, I ask, quietly, feeling damaged or broken. “You are not broken,” Xavier assures me, “and with time you will start to remember your past. However, on the topic of your name,” he adds, handing me a bracelet that looks like it was medical related, “this was the only thing you had on when we found you in the forest.” I take the medical bracelet and see the name “Danielle X-2” stamped on the plate.</p><p>	“Danielle”, I ask, looking at him questioningly and he responds, “it makes sense that that is your name my dear”, before looking into my eyes. “Now, Danielle, can you think of any reason why you were alone in the woods covered in blood?” My heart leaps into my throat when he says my name and, suddenly, I was no longer in the nice bedroom talking to him. Xavier changes into a man, whose features and details are fuzzy, save for the fact I can make out he wears glasses, and hear the cold tone in his voice. Behind him are figures in suits and in strange looking space suits. “Now Danielle, do as you are told tomorrow and the final experiment will be complete without a problem. Misbehave, however, and you’ll experience pain like you’ve never imagined.” I begin to start hyperventilating, crying, “I’ll be good sir, I’ll be good. Please don’t hurt me”, as my vision goes spotty. “Jean, get in here”, I hear a different voice, filled with warmth and worry, shout, “she’s having a panic attack.” I vaguely hear a female’s voice say, “shh it’s okay Dani, you’re safe”, before the world fades to black.</p><p>	“What happened”, I ask, groggily, when I open my eyes to see Jean holding my wrist whilst looking at her watch. “You had a panic attack and started hyperventilating. You passed out soon after”, she answers with a warm, gentle smile. “The Professor believes hearing your name triggered a flashback because you started crying and begging him not to hurt you”, she adds in a worried tone. “Professor”, I ask confusedly while she helps me sit up on the bed, “also I heard, I think you, call out the name Dani before I passed out.” “The Professor is Charles Xavier, the man you were talking with, but most of us call him the Professor”, she answers, “and yes, I did call out the name Dani in hopes it would calm you down. It’s a shortened version of your full name, but if you don’t like it”, she adds in embarrassment, “I can think of something else, unless you prefer using Dan-”, “NO”, I shout, panic welling up again. “Please don’t”, I continue quieter, “I like it actually. It makes me feel… safe, unlike my whole name, that reminds me of the bad man.” “Do you want to talk about what you remembered Dani”, Jean asks, quickly adding, “it’s alright if you don’t want to right now, but maybe it’ll help.”</p><p>	I shake my head, not ready to face the vague memory and she replies, “all right then” before she goes to stand up from the bed. “Wait”, I exclaim, grabbing her sleeve in a panic, “where are you going?” “The Professor is out in the hall with Storm and I was going to talk with them. I figured you would be hungry and thought I would ask Storm if she could make some soup for you to try since I don’t know when the last time you ate was”, she replies. “Storm”, I ask, tilting my head in confusion. Jean gives me a mischievous smile before saying, “the lady with white hair”, putting a finger to my lips to keep me from speaking. “Before you ask Dani, yes I am just like you”, she adds after taking her finger off my mouth. I bite my lip as she goes to leave and she must sense my apprehension on being alone because she pauses at the door. “Will you be alright sweetie”, she asks, concerned, coming back over to the bed, “or do you not want to be alone?” “Yes”, I mutter, “and no. What if the bad man comes to get me? He has men and aliens with him that can grab me while you’re in the hall.” I look at my hands in shame and embarrassment at my fear and Jean leans in to give me a hug. “There’s nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about”, she assures me, “and there’s nothing that can get you while you’re here, okay?” “Okay”, I whisper back as she lets me go and leaves the room, closing the door behind her. I hear her ask Storm if she could make me some soup before lowering her voice to speak with the Professor, most likely an effort for me not to overhear.</p><p>	Strangely enough, I can hear them talking clearly, as if they were talking normally in the room without even trying. “How is she”, the Professor asks and Jean responds, “aside from being terrified that a bad man with men and aliens is coming to snatch her, she’s doing much better.” There’s a long pause that the Professor breaks by asking, “what are you thinking Jean?” She sighs, “I know it sounds crazy, but there are too many similarities to be a coincidence Professor.” She continues, “what if she was put through the same experiments that Logan was put through, or worse? The memory loss, the violent, or in her case, fearful reaction to waking up in the medical bay, and I saw that minor flashback when she was panicking Professor. It was eerily similar to what I gleaned from Logan’s head when he allowed me to read his mind, except the ‘aliens in space suits’ were clearly scientists in hazmat suits.” “It’s best if we don’t push her Jean or she might mentally shut down”, I hear the Professor warn when the door opens and the white haired lady, Storm, walks in carrying a bowl of steaming soup. “Hey”, she says, smiling, “Jean said you were most likely hungry and asked me to make you some soup.”</p><p>	“Thank you”, I mumble, accepting the bowl and spoon she hands me before she goes to grab the desk’s chair to sit on. “Don’t eat too fast, or you’ll make yourself sick”, she warns when, after the first spoonful, I started eating really fast upon realizing how hungry I am. “If you’re still hungry after, I can see about making you a sandwich”, she adds when I slow down. After a bit, I pause from eating to ask Storm, “who’s Logan? I know it’s not the man with red glasses because Jean called him Scott.” She gives me a wry smile, “were you eavesdropping on the Professor and Jean’s conversation before I arrived?” I feel myself turn red in embarrassment and mumble back, “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. For some reason I could hear them both clearly as if they were talking in the room, not quietly out in the hall.” “I didn’t mean to embarrass you Dani, it happens”, Storm assures me, “and to answer your question, Logan is another mutant we met recently and became allies with. He’s a bit, prickly, personality wise, but hopefully he’ll be back once he’s done investigating leads to his past.” “He can’t remember like me”, I ask and Storm hesitates before answering , “yes, but the chances you two are connected are slim.” “Oh, okay”, I reply, a tad disappointed, and go back to finishing my soup.</p><p>	Jean re-enters the room just as I finish eating and asks, “are you still hungry?” “Maybe”, I answer before I let out a huge yawn, “but I guess I’m more tired than anything”, I add. “That’s understandable, you’ve had a stressful day and are probably exhausted”, Storm responds, taking the empty bowl and spoon back from me. ”I’m going to go put these in the dishwasher”, she tells Jean as she leaves the room. “Do you have any more questions Dani”, Jean asks, sitting in the chair Storm vacated. “I have tons of questions”, I admit, yawning again, “but I might fall asleep before you can answer them all.” “That’s alright, I can answer some now or we can wait for tomorrow”, she suggests, but I shake my head. “I’ll wait until tomorrow”, I say, feeling myself start to drift off. “Well, if you need anything, I’m right next door with Scott”, she tells me, standing up from the chair to open a door I had assumed was a closet. “You have your own bathroom when you need it”, she says, “no worries about getting lost trying to find it”, she adds, teasingly. I smile at that, feeling more relaxed in my surroundings. “Would you like someone to stay until you fall asleep”, she asks, gently, not wanting me to feel afraid to say yes. “I think I’ll be fine”, I reply, “I feel safe here”, which makes her smile. “I’m glad you feel safe”, she says, relieved, “and tomorrow I’ll see about getting you clothes of your own so you don’t have to continue wearing the medical gown.” At this point, I had been so overwhelmed and preoccupied I hadn’t noticed I was wearing, what looks and feels like, an oversized t-shirt. “Thank you”, I mutter, blushing a bit, “and good night… I think”, I add, realizing I have no idea what time it is currently. “Don’t worry, it’s nighttime”, she remarks, “and good night as well.” She goes to leave, as I lie back down, and closes the door quietly behind herself. I can feel myself drift off, soon after, and fall fast asleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dani goes to the museum with the rest of the mutant students and trouble happens</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two years later… </p><p>	I’m pacing around my room nervously as the day I have been excited for, and dreading, finally arrives. Weeks ago, Jean told me that since Bayville Elementary School had a superintendent’s day the same day that the students from Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters were going to the museum, I would be allowed to come along. I was super excited then, but as the day drew closer my feelings of nervousness increased. “What if something happens and I lose control”, I think, remembering the most recent accident where I knocked out the power during a school assembly when one of the older school bullies hit the back of my head with a book. I hear a knock on my door and Jean asking if she can come in. “Yes”, I answer, sitting on my bed to stop my nervous pacing. “Why are you so nervous sweetheart”, she asks, concerned, “you were excited when I told you could come. What changed?” She sits down next to me and pulls me into a side hug, waiting for me to answer. “This is about your telepathy, isn’t it”, she finally states when she realizes I wasn’t going to answer and I feel myself blush as I nod.</p><p>	She gives me her kind, understanding smile, assuring me, “it’s alright Dani. I know how you feel, I even have difficulty controlling my telepathy sometimes.” “You do”, I respond, surprised, “but you never seem to have problems when I’ve come with you on errands. You have even put up barriers around my mind when mine spontaneously fails, especially if the Professor isn’t around to help.” “That’s because when I get overwhelmed, Scott notices and helps me refocus my control”, she explains, “I also have been practicing longer than two years”, she adds with a sly grin. “If it makes you feel better, the Professor will be with you the entire time we are there since I will be helping Scott, Storm, and the other teachers keep the rest of the students out of trouble”, she reassures me and I feel myself calm at that news. “Yeah, that does make me feel better”, I reply in relief, smiling. I sense there’s something else on her mind so I ask, “what are you thinking”, curiously. “I can sense there’s something important you’re thinking about, even if I lack the control to find out what.”</p><p>	“See”, she says, poking my nose teasingly, “you are gaining more control than you thought. Two weeks ago you were unable to tell if I was thinking anything, even if I loudly projected it.” “Telepaths are harder. They know how to defend from other telepaths”, I huff, “even if it’s unintentional.” She sighs, “well you are correct Dani, there has been something on my mind for a while now.” She hesitates before releasing me from the side hug so she can hold my hands. “Dani”, she asks with a nervous look on her face, “how would you feel about me officially adopting you as my daughter?” My face lights up like Christmas came early and I let go of her hands to give her a big hug. “I would love that very much. You’ve been like a mother to me since I first arrived and, as far as the elementary school knows, you already are my Mama”, I answer joyfully, before pausing in my excitement. “Is this what you and Scott have been arguing about the past month”, I ask, adding quickly, “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but when Scott gets mad I can clearly hear him through the wall. I even tried to cover my ears with my pillow during the last fight”, I admit sheepishly, “but not before I heard him call me a replacement.” Jean, sensing my sadness, cups my face with her hands, vehemently assuring me, “you are not a replacement sweetheart, no matter what Scott thinks. He believes I’m not thinking clearly about this decision, but he is wrong.”</p><p>	She gives me another hug and I mutter, “who does he think I’m replacing”, into her shoulder. She hesitates for a moment before answering, “my son, Chad. Four years ago, Scott and I had a baby boy.” “What happened to him”, I ask, feeling sad, and she replies, “he was kidnapped by another bad man and, while I miss him dreadfully each day, I have lost hope of ever finding him. I don’t think he even remembers who his parents are since he was barely six months old”, she adds, mournfully. “But then”, she continues, “you came into our lives 2 years later, my poor amnesiatic girl”, she says, wiping a tear off my face. “You were scared of your own shadow and of things that go bump in the night despite the fact you can lift and throw things with your mind. You brought joy back into my life when I thought there was none left and that’s why I want you to become my daughter.” She starts having her own tears fall down her face when I answer, “please adopt me Mama”, and she pulls me into another hug as she cries tears of joy. I break the hug as soon as a thought crosses my mind and I ask, with concern written all over my face, “does this mean I have to start calling Scott dad?” She laughs at my concern, “no worries Dani, he has stubbornly refused to adopt you, but I hope he’ll come around to the idea.” “Is it bad if I hope he doesn’t”, I ask, blushing from my embarrassment, “I never got the feeling he likes me, even though I follow all the rules he sets and do my best to be nice to him.” “His personality grows on you”, she assures me before sternly adding, “you need to get ready young lady. We’re leaving in 10 minutes and you’re still in your PJs.” “Okay Mama”, I reply, getting off the bed to grab clothes from my wardrobe as she goes to leave, closing the door behind her.</p><p>	I had been so worried I’d lose control of my telepathy, I completely forgot about my other gifts. I flinch when a little kid shrieks on the top of their lungs at the T-rex skeleton, my ears ringing from the piercing sound. I can barely focus on what Storm is telling us about the neanderthals because my sensitive ears are picking up every little sound around. The Professor, noticing my discomfort, brings me to the Egyptian wing where there are far less shrieking children. I sneeze as we enter, the scent of the gold overwhelming my equally sensitive nose, and the Professor says, “bless you Dani. Hopefully this wing will give your heightened hearing a small break.” “Thanks Professor”, I reply back, smiling, “I forgot that even if I can’t hear everyone’s thoughts, it doesn’t prevent me from hearing their actual voices.” I go to rub my ears, which have slowly stopped ringing, when I sneeze again. The Professor hands me a tissue, which I take, feeling myself turn red. “I’m sorry”, I apologize quietly, blowing my nose. “I didn’t expect gold to have such a strong smell, unless it’s because there’s so much of it”, I add, sneezing one final time. “No need to apologize Dani, it’s quite alright”, he replies. “Your enhanced sense of smell and hearing are unique, but with time and practice you’ll begin to learn how to ignore the extra stimuli. It’ll fade into the background until you want to focus with it, much like your telepathy. You just need to start exercising your senses like you exercise your telepathy. You are still practicing those telepathy exercises I taught you whilst not in your weekly lessons, correct?” I nod, “I make sure to practice a little every day, but I did move my practicing outside to prevent me from breaking anything else”, I admit, still feeling guilty of the hole I put in the wall of the library when I lost control of my telepathy and blasted a bookcase over with telekinesis. “Accidents happen and are a part of the learning process”, he assures me, most likely picking up on my guilt, “however, it is still much too cold for you to be practicing outdoors.” He gives me a wry smile, “we wouldn’t want you turning blue now”, making me giggle at his teasing tone.</p><p>	“I guess that would be bad”, I comment, “but honestly, it doesn’t even feel cold outside Professor. Also, it’s peaceful meditating by the frozen pond by myself.” He sighs at that, “you need to stop self-isolating yourself Dani”, he says, with concern and worry lacing his voice, “it’s not healthy mentally to be alone.” “I try to make friends, honest I do”, I reply, “I just don’t fit in. At school, all my classmates look younger than me even though, mentally, we are the same age and at home, I’m the youngest student with powers.” “You’ll learn to overcome your timidness in time Dani”, the Professor tells me, grabbing my hand. “You’ve already come a long way from where you were before when you were too scared to leave your room, let alone the Institute.” He gives my hand a squeeze, “have patience my dear, I’m sure you’ll make friends soon enough.” “I hope so,” I respond, giving him a weak smile before he lets go of my hand to start heading for the next exhibit.</p><p>	As I follow him from the Egypt wing, I find myself slowing down as my mind starts to wander away from my control to focus on something else completely. Before I know it, I find I have accidently slipped into a random person’s head and see I’m at the food court. Miss Rogue, the school’s youngest teacher, is trying to stop a confrontation between a couple of teenage boys and the school’s very own hot head, John. Bobby is there as well, but is trying to stay out of the way while trying to convince John it’s not worth it to start a fight. “Come on man”, one of the teenagers says, “I asked nicely if I can have a light”, glaring at John for refusing his request. John opens his lighter, flicking it on so he can stare at the flame, before snapping it shut with a sarcastic “sorry, can’t help you.” This only serves to piss off the guy and Miss Rogue tries to deescalate the situation by informing the boys, “sorry, but it is his lighter and you can’t make him give it to you. Now please, for the last time, leave my students alone.” I gasp when I feel a hand grab my body’s shoulder and I’m brought back to the Egypt wing’s exit by the Professor. “Are you all right”, he asks, concerned, “you zoned out and couldn’t hear me talking to you.” I put my thumbnail into my mouth, a nervous habit I have developed, and he asks with worry, “what is it?” “My mind did the wander thing again and I found myself at the food court in a random person’s head”, I admit. “Miss Rogue is there, with John and Bobby, trying to stop a possible fight from breaking out between John and a couple of random teenagers.” He sighs, not cross with my wandering thankfully, and states, “then we best go intervene before the trouble starts.” He heads off in the direction of the food court with me following close behind but, unfortunately, we didn’t make it before the trouble.</p><p>	One of the boys, stupidly, stole John’s lighter when Miss Rogue told him and Bobby to go back to the school group and John thought it would be funny to set the guy’s shirt on fire with the fire from his cigarette. Bobby reacted quickly and put out the fire with his ice powers to prevent the teenager from being burned. The damage was done, however, and both him and John are exposed as mutants, which terrifies some of the onlookers. As we get closer to the situation, everyone slows until they look like statues, save for all the mutants from the school. “What did you do Bobby”, John asks, snidely, and Bobby retorts, “this isn’t me asshole. I didn’t do this.” “No, I did”, the Professor states, announcing his presence to them and they startle. “The next time you feel like showing off, don’t”, he adds, showing his slight disappointment and anger at the two of them. “I’m sorry Professor, I tried to get them to walk away”, Miss Rogue says, miserable at her failure, but the Professor gently smiles and says, “I know that this is not your fault Rogue. Just try to be more assertive when telling the older students to do as they are told.” He goes to start lecturing John on his actions when Jean and Scott arrive. As I walk over to Jean, the tv in the food court announces, “breaking news, live from Washington, where there’s been an attack on the Oval Office of the White House.”</p><p>	The adults’ reactions are simultaneous, they look at the tv in fear as the reporter states, “while the President and Vice President are fine, the attack seemed to involve one or more mutants”, with the heading “Mutants Attack White House” appearing under them. “We need to go Professor”, Scott says with urgency and the Professor sighs. “I think you’re right Scott”, he says with worry, “go round up the rest of the school, we’re leaving.” I grab ahold of Jean’s hand and follow her from the food court while the Professor continues to lecture about appropriate public behavior to John. “Mama, are we leaving because of what happened in the food court”, I ask, “or because of what the tv said?” “It’s a little of both sweetie”, she answers, helping the rest of the teachers usher the school towards the exit. “People already fear and judge us for what we are and we don’t want, or need, the unwanted attention placed on the school”, she adds. “That makes sense”, I reply, a bit sad, “it’s why I’m not allowed to tell anyone at my school that I’m a mutant because I will be discriminated against.” “Where did you learn a word like discrimination”, Jean asks, trying to take my mind off the present dilemma. “Harry Potter”, I answer, “Professor Snape discriminates against Harry because of who his father was.” “My little bookworm”, she says, making sure I’m in the car and buckled before helping get the rest of the students onto the bus.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A strange looking man comes to call that leaves Dani confused. Why does he have the same nightmarish images in his head as her and why does his scent make her feel like she found home?</p><p>Note: Logan in the series is based upon Hugh Jackman's Wolverine so please don't be confused when I mention Logan is tall and has light brown eyes as opposed to blue eyes like in the comics.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Later that afternoon, while the rest of the students are finishing up their last classes of the day, I’m sitting on the stairs in the foyer by the main entrance. “I promised the Professor I’d practice indoors again”, I think, starting the telepathic exercises, “at least in the foyer there’s less things I can break.” I close my eyes, taking a deep breath, and lower the barrier on my mind that prevents me from hearing the onslaught of everyone’s thoughts. “Focus”, I think, feeling the beginnings of pain from hearing all those thoughts, “you can do this. Let everything unimportant fade and only concentrate on the one mind I’m trying to find.” I groan under the pressure, raising my shield when I feel the voices overwhelm my mind. “This is pointless”, I think, disappointed at my latest failed attempt, “I’m never going to master this.” “Never say never Dani and keep trying”, the Professor’s voice echoes in my mind. He most likely felt my latest attempt and my disappointment at my failure because, as usual, he tells me to not give up. “I’m trying Professor”, I think back, miserable, “but either I’m doing this wrong or I’m never going to be able to control my telepathy.” He chuckles, “really? You’re doing it right now, or did you not notice?” “Huh”, I think before realizing he’s right. Unfortunately, with that realization, everyones’ voices come back and I’m forced to raise my shield yet again. “Keep practicing”, the Professor remarks, “and try to let people in”, and then he leaves my mind. I sigh, “why is it when I try to do it, I can’t, but when I don’t mean to do it, I can”, I mutter to myself. Then an idea pops into my head. “Maybe the Professor was giving me a hint”, I think, “ maybe he’s trying to tell me not to try and fight the voices, but relax instead.”</p><p>	I close my eyes again, taking calm meditative breaths, and let myself relax before lowering my barrier. I smile when the onslaught of voices wash over me, instead of pounding into my skull like it typically does, and find it easier to focus on specific minds. I find the Professor’s, allowing the rest to fade into the background, and he helps me establish a connection. “I knew you were smart enough to understand my clue”, he says and I can feel his pride. “Thank you”, I reply, hearing the sounds of the students beginning to mill around with my ears, signalling that the school day is over. “Keep practicing while everyones’ minds are more active now that school is finished for the day”, he responds. “And don’t get frustrated if it’s a bit harder, just try to keep calm and relaxed”, he adds, leaving my head once more. I continue to practice on the stairs, while the students mill around the foyer to various locations. Thankfully, no one bothers me, especially some of the older students coming from the Professor’s english class. They all know of my mental capabilities, as well as my timidness around them, and pay me no mind as they head up the stairs to their dorm rooms. The foyer empties again soon after and I find a new sound to distract me. Outside, it sounds like a motorcycle is being driven right up to the front door and I start to open my eyes to look. “No, don’t get distracted”, I mutter to myself, closing my eyes tight, “now isn’t the time to be curious” as I hear the front door open and close.</p><p>	I take another meditative breath through my nose and gasp when I catch the scent of the person who just entered. I can recognize that the scent is masculine, a mixture of leather and an unidentifiable musky scent, but the feelings it conjured in my mind was what made me gasp. His scent makes me feel safe, protected, and, for some reason, at home. I lose all focus on my mental powers and end up tripping Storm as she reaches the stairs to go down. I react fast enough to catch her with my telekinesis to prevent her from falling down the stairs and gently put her down. “I’m sorry Storm”, I say quietly, blushing from embarrassment at my lapse in control. “It’s all right Dani”, she assures me, “thanks for catching me.” I stand up from the steps, glancing at the man before sneezing when he exhales a puff of cigar smoke. “Bless you”, he says, taking the cigar from his mouth as I take in his appearance. He’s tall, with a beard and funny hairstyle, and, even though he’s wearing a leather jacket, I can tell he’s muscular. The thing that had me really staring, however, were his light brown eyes. “They’re the same color as mine”, I think when Storm says, “why don’t you go find the Professor while I talk to our guest Dani.” “Okay”, I say, still staring as I leave the foyer and, once I’m out of sight, turn to walk right into Scott, literally.</p><p>	He puts on his forced smile before he comments, “what’s got your head up in the clouds where you didn’t notice me until now?” “Sorry Scott”, I reply, looking down in shame. “Have you seen the Professor”, I add quietly, letting my timidness take over in his presence. He answers, “he was heading down to the out of bounds room but, if you hurry, you may be able to catch him before he enters. Now, I believe I asked you a question”, he adds, crossing his arms, “what has gotten you lost in thought?” “There’s a strange man in the foyer talking to Storm”, I answer, with a little smile, “he has a beard, a funny haircut, and he’s smoking. I thought smoking was a no no in the Institute”, I add as an afterthought. His false smile drops into a deep frown at my description of the stranger. “Oh great, HE’S back”, he huffs in irritation, marching off past me towards the foyer. “That has got to be the strangest reaction I have seen Scott make”, I think, heading for the nearest elevator to take me to the sub basement, “I wonder why?”</p><p>	As I exit the elevator, I see the Professor stopping right in front of the large, metal door with the big X and run down the hall towards him before he can enter the out of bounds room. The Professor, hearing my footfalls, turns and asks, “Dani, what are you doing down here”, when I stop in front of him. “Storm said to come find you while she talks to the tall, muscular stranger with a funny haircut in the foyer”, I answer, before adding offhandedly, “his scent made me feel as if I was home.” “Ah, I know just who you are talking about my dear”, the Professor says, smiling. “Why are you going into the out of bounds room”, I ask curiously and he replies, “would you like to find out?” I start nodding vigorously in excitement at the prospect of seeing what was inside, but pause and mutter, “but both Scott and Mama say I’m not allowed in there”, in disappointment. “You are correct Dani”, he remarks, kindly, “however, since you’ll be with me and have my express permission, you may join me.” My face lights up at that and he adds, “think of it as a treat for successfully completing your first steps in controlling your telepathy.” He turns back towards the door and, a moment later, a blue light appears from the door to scan the Professor’s eye. The female voice from two years ago says, “welcome Professor” before the door begins to open and the Professor leads me into the room.</p><p>	I look around in confusion because, save for the small walkway that ends at a control panel table with a weird looking helmet attached to it, the room was completely empty. “Well, it certainly is a big, round room Professor”, I comment, still confused, “but I’m failing to understand why I’m not allowed in here.” He starts to laugh, making me ask “what’s so funny”, quite perplexed. “Oh, it’s nothing”, he answers, turning to smile at me, “it’s just your reaction to Cerebro was the same as the guest’s in the foyer.” “Cerebro”, I ask, tilting my head. “Where we are right now is Cerebro”, he explains, wheeling himself to the control panel as I follow. “You see, with this machine,” he continues, “I can find the mutant, or mutants, who attacked the President in order for us to find out why.” “Is this how you found me in the middle of the forest”, I ask in awe and he nods his head. “How does it work”, I ask in amazement, curious how this machine can help find people. “Well, you see…” he starts to answer when I sneeze after catching the smell of cigar smoke again. “Geez, what are you, allergic”, the man mutters when I sneeze once more. “Logan, my tolerance for smoking in the mansion notwithstanding, continue smoking that in here, and you’ll spend the rest of your days under the belief you’re a six year old girl”, the Professor states, not pleased. The man, Logan, looks at me, as I try to stifle my urge to giggle, and then at the Professor, responding, “you’d do that?” The Professor, with his “try me” tone, replies, “I’d have Jean braid your hair.”</p><p>	I start to giggle at that reply and the look of momentary fear that crosses Logan’s face, before he sighs in defeat. He looks at the cigar, rolls his eyes, and proceeds to put it out ON HIS HAND! “What are you doing”, I cry in panic, quickly grabbing his hand to see the burn heal itself. The physical contact I make causes my mind to link with his momentarily, and we both gasp. In my head, and his, images from my nightmares flow and connect with similar images that are found inside Logan’s head, causing me to start to tremble. I drop his hand like it burned me with another gasp and timidly ask, “did the bad man hurt you too?” He looks at me with a mixture of confusion, worry, and concern at my reaction on his face, clearly unsure how to answer my question. I jump in shock when the Professor puts his hand on my shoulder, breaking me from my timid trance, and gently says, “why don’t you go say goodbye to Storm and Jean before they head out. I can show you Cerebro another time.” Still shaken, I glance at Logan, who is still staring at me in confusion, and let out a quiet, “okay.” I walk past Logan to leave the room and hear Logan ask the Professor, “who was that?” Before the door closes behind me, I hear the Professor reply, “someone who is just as lost as you are.”</p><p>	I make my way to the hanger, where the jet is, and Jean rushes over to me when she senses my mixed emotions upon entering. “What happened sweetheart”, she asks, worried, and I whisper, “is Logan like me?” Jean hesitates before admitting, “in a way, yes Dani. He has no clue about his past and the Professor is trying to help him just as he tries to help you.” “I accidentally connected our minds when I grabbed his hand”, I whimper. “He put his cigar out on it and I grabbed it in panic, unaware he had healing powers.” “Oh sweetie”, Jean says cupping my face in her hands, “that must have been frightening. It’s no wonder your emotions are all over the place.” “He has similar images in his head that I see in my nightmares”, I whisper and she wraps her arms around me in a hug when I start to cry. “What happened”, Storm asks,concerned, coming down the jet’s ramp to see me crying in Jean’s arms. “She accidentally peered into Logan’s head”, Jean explains, softly, and Storm quickly joins in giving me a hug. “It’s all right Dani”, she assures me, adding, “maybe when we get back we can properly introduce you to Logan and you can ask him questions.” “But for now”, Jean states, “I need you to be good because he’s going to be helping Miss Rogue babysit you and the other students tonight. Can you do that for me?” “Yes, but what about the Professor and Scott”, I ask, “where are they going?” “To visit a friend of the Professor’s who is currently in jail”, Jean says, and I ask incredulously, “who could the Professor be friends with in jail?” “His name’s Magneto, let’s just leave it at that”, she answers, giving me one last hug. “Now, if you head upstairs and ask nicely, Miss Rogue might make you some dinner”, Storm teases and I smile, wiping the tears from my face. “Okay”, I reply, as they both stand up to head for the jet. As I leave, I overhear Storm whisper to Jean, “I guess I was wrong on the chances of them being connected being slim.”</p><p>	It’s past my bedtime, but I can’t seem to fall asleep with how busy my mind is at the moment, so I take out my Gameboy Advance SP to play the latest Pokemon game. I finick with the volume control, as the game loads, until I have it on the absolute lowest setting before starting up the game. I play for about 10 minutes when I hear the sounds of footsteps heading towards my door and quickly stash the game under my pillow to feign sleep. The door opens, and I can hear Logan state, “nice try kid. That might have worked on Rogue, but I can clearly hear video game music coming from under your pillow, so I know you’re awake.” I sit up in my bed, staring in astonishment at Logan, who is currently leaning on my door frame with his arms crossed. “How can you possibly hear the music”, I ask, still astonished, “it’s on the lowest volume setting AND it’s being muffled by my pillow.” He smirks, “I have good ears”, he responds, “let’s leave it at that. Now, Rogue said that Jean has your bedtime at 9 pm sharp, but if you are having trouble sleeping tonight, you can read until 9:45 pm.” He adds in a warning tone, “that’s less than 30 minutes from now and if I come back up here to find you still awake, I’ll have to tell Jean you were misbehaving.”</p><p>	I shrink at his warning tone, which he notices immediately, and sighs, “I’m not much of a rule follower myself, so how about I let you stay up until 10 pm if you promise to try and sleep afterwards.” I smile a little at how quickly he notices my timidness at his warning tone, Scott was pretty oblivious to it, and say, “okay.” I turn on my side table lamp and save my game before shutting it off to put into the drawer. I look at my bookcase, thinking about what I want to read, before reaching my hand out to bring the first Harry Potter book to me using telekinesis. “Don’t tell Scott”, I mutter, opening the book to the first page, “he hates when I use my powers to do simple tasks.” Logan snorts, “yeah, well Scott can get over himself and don’t you hesitate to tell him that”, he says with a wry smile. “He’d yell at me for back talking”, I gasp and Logan grins. “That’s when you walk away and ignore him”, he adds. “I’m too scared to do that”, I admit, “I’m scared to do a lot of things”, I add, blushing in shame. “Eh, you’re a kid”, he remarks, “no reason to be ashamed. Sooner or later you’ll learn when it’s okay to be scared and when it’s okay to stand up for yourself.” He stops leaning on my door frame to grab my door to close it. “Remember”, he reminds me, “10 o’ clock, then bed.” I nod my head and begin to reread Harry Potter as he closes the door. I soon find myself starting to doze off before I fall asleep with my lamp still on and my book on my lap.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A recurring nightmare wakes Dani from her sleep and she discovers intruders in the Institute. Soldiers, who must work for the bad man, are here and are determined to capture her.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Images flash through my nightmare, accompanied by vague voices of strangers and the cold voice of the fuzzy man with glasses. Pictures of X-rays are on the wall while men in suits talk amongst themselves. “She’ll be stronger than her predecessor”, “adamantium on a child”, “just like the Wolverine, her entire skeleton”, and then the fuzzy man is standing over me as I’m being lowered into a tank filled with water, wearing nothing but a small oxygen mask on my face. I can hear the sounds of something boiling nearby, but I’m too busy staring at the fuzzy man in terror to look to see where it’s coming from. “This will be the worst pain you’ve ever experienced before now X-2, but when you survive nothing will hurt you again”, the fuzzy man tells me before I’m being punctured and feel as if my very bones are melting from the excruciating pain.</p><p>	I wake up in terror, to find I’m drenched in sweat as the nightmare slowly starts to fade. I’m breathing fast from my fear, almost to the point of hyperventilating, but I manage to slow it down by taking calming breaths. Most of the nightmare sequence was the same, but hearing other voices besides the fuzzy man’s was new. “Who is the Wolverine”, I think, shakily, “and what were they doing to me to cause that much pain?” I look at my clock to see the time and find, to my disappointment, it’s only 12:03 am. I whimper, usually when I have this bad a nightmare the Professor or Jean would come to calm me down and help me fall back to sleep. Seeing as how I don’t hear either of their reassuring voices in my head signals that they are both still away. “Logan or Miss Rogue must have come in to turn my light off and put my book away”, I think as I turn my side table lamp back on.</p><p>	My hand shakes in the light from residual fear and I bring my knees up to my chest so I can slowly rock myself in an effort to calm all the way down. Tears are forming in my eyes as I feel myself slowly start to relax and stop trembling. “There’s no way I can go back to sleep right after that”, I think, when I have an idea. “Maybe someone else is awake. I can talk about my nightmare and maybe fall back to sleep”, I think and slowly start to lower my mind’s barrier. I focus and soon sense the active minds of Bobby and Logan, signalling they both are awake. With some prying, I discover that they are both together in the kitchen and get out of bed to join them. As I slide up my mental barrier, I freeze when I sense minds I don’t recognize nearby. I focus on one of the stranger’s minds and hear the order “be quiet and detain them while they sleep”, being repeated over and over in their head like a mantra. Since my range for telepathy isn’t very far, thanks to the Professor, I know that the minds are close and go to my window to investigate.</p><p>I open my window, peering out as I catch the strange whiff of unknown scents. Strangers in uniforms, carrying guns and flashlights, are exiting large trucks to head stealthy into the Institute and, in the distance, I can hear the sounds of helicopters. A stinging pain occurs in my neck, along with a sudden urge to sleep, and I quickly grab what stung me. I find myself looking at three small metal cylinders with tiny needles, but have no idea what they are supposed to be. My urge to sleep quickly fades as I look out the window to see the strangers are pointing their guns at me. “Shit, call the general”, I hear one of them say, “tell him I have eyes on subject X-2 and request further instructions.”</p><p>Upon hearing him say “X-2”, I duck in panic, as my heart races from me starting to hyperventilate. I hear, what I now realize, are soldiers telling others where my location is and to not hesitate to shoot. “Not good, not good, NOT GOOD”, I mentally scream, “the bad man found me and wants me back.” The lightbulb of my lamp explodes from my telekinesis, reminding me I need to stay calm or I’ll lose control. I quickly stand, hoping with my lamp no longer working, I can run to my wardrobe unseen. Another stinging pain occurs in my shoulder, but I pay it no mind. My current adrenaline rush is making whatever is in the needles useless and I throw my wardrobe to grab a pair of sneakers. I jam my feet into them and prepare to make a run out of my room to Logan when I hear the telltale sound of multiple pairs of footsteps stop outside my door. I slip into my wardrobe, closing the door to hide, just as my bedroom door opens. I cover my mouth with my hands in an effort to not make a sound, lowering my mental barrier to try and, hopefully, call for help telepathically despite my inexperience at forming a communication link myself.</p><p>Unfortunately, an ear piercing shriek echoes throughout the Institute and I cry out from the sudden pain caused by my heightened sense of hearing. “She’s in the wardrobe”, one of the soldiers groans, “this is our chance to knock her out if this ungodly noise hasn’t already.” I clutch my ears in an effort to lessen the hypersonic noise and feel as if my skull is being split in two. The screams stop abruptly, but my ears still ring from the abuse they just endured and I find it hard to focus. The door of the wardrobe is ripped open and I let out a scream when I see the soldiers take aim at me with their guns. I close my eyes, feeling power swell up inside me, and tense in anticipation for more stinging pain from the darts to hit me.</p><p>The pain never comes as I feel myself fall, and open my eyes to see I’m falling from the ceiling of Jean and Scott’s room onto their bed. “Fuck, where’d did she go”, the soldier from my room yells while the other shouts, “I don’t know, all I saw was a hole form under her and she vanished into it.” “How did I get here”, I think in confusion, trying to stand and have to fight the urge to pass out. The power I felt welling up inside me is gone and in its place, weariness weighs down upon me. “Dammit, confirmed sightings of the Wolverine”, one of the soldiers yells, “he’s massacring our soldiers and they’re requesting backup.” Adrenaline shoots through me at the sound of the name Wolverine, replacing my tired feeling. “The name from my dreams”, I think, “maybe his distraction can help me escape.” I leap off the bed, making my way quietly to the door and take a deep breath. I open the door and take off running towards the other staircase, since the path to the foyer was clearly blocked, hearing, “shoot her”, behind me. I round the corner of the hallway, managing to avoid getting hit again, and run into Miss Rogue with Bobby and John accompanying her.</p><p>“Shh, shh, it’s okay Dani”, she whispers when she sees how freaked out I am. “Bobby”, she orders, “make a barrier of ice to slow them down long enough for us to make it to the stairs.” “Yes Miss Rogue”, he responds, making the ice wall as she quickly checks me over. “Looks like they got her with those darts”, John comments and I flinch when the darts, still in my shoulder, get taken out. “Doesn’t look like it pierced your skin”, Miss Rogue says in relief, “come on, we have to keep moving.” “Why can’t I fight”, John complains, “these soldiers would be toast in seconds.” “And so would the house”, Bobby replies, snidely. She grabs my hand and signals to the boys to follow her as she leads us to the other stairs.</p><p>She leads us towards the foyer without any resistance as I squeak at the sight of all the dead bodies in the hallway. Some looked as if they were torn apart by an animal and Miss Rogue tells me to try not to look at them. “We just need to make it past the foyer to get to the secret passageway”, Miss Rogue says, as we enter the foyer, when the front doors burst open and more soldiers spill in. “Take out X-2 first with lethal rounds, deal with the others second”, a soldier orders and they all take aim at me. I scream, a barrier forming between us and the soldiers just as they start firing their guns. The bullets bounce of the shield I realize I made in a panic, keeping us safe. “Flash bang out”, another soldier shouts, “this should disorient her to lower the barrier.” I feel my barrier flicker when I’m temporarily blinded by the sudden flash of light while my ears ring from the loud bang. I drop to my knees, covering my ears, but still manage to keep the barrier up. An angry yell calls out, followed by the sounds of the soldiers screaming. “Kid, KID”, I hear the voice of Logan yell, “come on, lower the barrier. It’s safe now.” I open my eyes to see him, covered in blood, surrounded by the bodies of the now dead soldiers. I tremble as my shield lowers, tears rolling down my face. Logan tries to get me to stand, but picks me up when he realizes I’m too shell shocked to move.</p><p>He carries me to the secret passage while I cry into his shoulder, taking in his safe scent, and trembling in fear. “Bad man, bad man, bad man”, I keep sobbing out and Logan, his voice filled with worry, asks “what is she babbling about Rogue?” “I don’t know Logan, Dani is a complete mystery to us all”, Miss Rogue states. “Only Jean or the Professor have been able to calm her down when she gets like this. My only guess is the attack has caused her to have one of her nightmare flashbacks.” When we make it to the passageway, Logan puts me down and orders, “follow Rogue and the others out of here”, before closing the door in my face. “NO”, I scream, pounding on the door while Miss Rogue tries to force me away with the help of Bobby. “We can’t leave him”, I cry hysterically, “the bad man will get him. The bad man will get him and do horrible things to him Miss Rogue”, I plead, feeling another surge of power form inside me, and she groans. She opens the passageway door, telling Bobby to make another ice barrier between Logan and the soldiers, when I jump out. “Get back here Dani”, she yells, causing Logan to turn to see what the commotion was behind him. I send out the power built up inside into a huge telekinetic wave, knocking the soldiers off of their feet and down the hallway. Logan manages to stay on his feet and yells, “what the hell kid”, in surprise when a heaviness descends upon me, causing me to fall to my knees. “Shit, she’s passing out”, I hear Miss Rogue say, “you’re going to have to carry her Logan. She’s too heavy for any of us to lift.” My eyelids flutter as I’m picked up off the floor and I smell Logan’s scent wash over just as the darkness takes me.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dani wakes up to find herself in a someone else's house, but soon realizes it's Bobby's childhood home. Through some awkwardness, Bobby comes out as a mutant to his parent's dismay and the police are called.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I open my eyes to discover I have been placed on a couch in, what appears to be, a living room. I sit up in confusion as to how I got here, inhaling scents that remind me of Bobby, as I look around. It’s a quaint living room, with a couch, a love seat, and a couple of chairs set around a coffee table with an unlit fireplace behind one of the chairs, but it’s the realization that I woke up alone that has me on edge. I focus my ears, hearing the muffled voices of Miss Rogue, Bobby, and John above me, and conclude they must be on the next floor. A clinking sound of glass nearby snaps my head in the direction of a doorway off of the living room. I quietly walk to the doorway to, what I realize is, a kitchen and see Logan grabbing what Scott calls an “adult only” beverage from the fridge, unaware of my presence. He opens the beverage, taking a drink as I begin to walk up to him and snaps to attention when the floor creaks under me. I stop instantly in my tracks, staring wide-eyed at the three long knives pointed at my face and whimper, “I’m sorry, please don’t hurt me.” “I’m not going to hurt you kiddo”, he replies, relaxing when he realizes I’m not a threat and drops his arm to his side. “I’m glad you’re awake though”, he continues, taking another swig of the adult beverage, “but if you don’t mind my asking, why the hell are you heavier than you look?” I don’t respond, too preoccupied with watching the knives sliding back into his hand to answer. “Hey”, he says, drawing my attention away from his hand, “I asked you a question kid.” I open my mouth to answer when I hear the sound of the front door opening accompanied by strangers’ voices.</p><p>	I squeeze myself fast between the fridge and Logan, to hide behind him, when a teenage boy and his mother enter the kitchen and startle upon seeing us. The dad, following behind them, sees us and shouts, “who the hell are you?” Before Logan can answer, however, Bobby comes barreling down the stairs which surprise, what I can only guess, is his family. “Bobby, aren’t you supposed to be at school”, his mom asks, as Miss Rogue and John come down the stairs to join the rest of us. His father, on the other hand, loudly demands, “Bobby, who the hell is this guy”, while pointing at Logan. “Uh, this is Professor Logan”, Bobby quickly lies, “and the little girl behind him is his, uh, daughter Dani.” His dad seems unconvinced, especially with Logan and I giving Bobby “are you kidding me” looks. Miss Rogue, in an attempt to defuse the tense situation, steps forward and introduces herself. “Hello Mr and Mrs Drake, I’m Miss Rogue, one of Bobby’s teachers”, she says, extending a hand to shake both of their hands. “What are you doing in my house”, the father asks in hostility, not accepting her hand. Bobby, looking as if he’d rather freeze off his own limbs, answers, “you probably should sit down, there’s something I need to tell you.”</p><p>	I continue to hide behind Logan, my timidness getting the better of me, as I follow him and the others towards the living room. Thankfully, he declines to take a seat, allowing me to continue hiding behind him as he leans on one of the entryways into the living room. Bobby begins to explain to his family why we were here and that we are all mutants that escaped the attack on the Institute. This news shocks his parents into silence, a long, awkward silence, as they attempt to process the information. After a moment, Bobby’s mom asks, awkwardly, “so when did you first learn that you were a… um, a…” “ a mutant”, John supplies when she stumbles over her words. He begins to play with his lighter, flicking it on and off until Bobby’s mom, using what can only be described as a mom voice, tells him to cut it out and forces him to put it away. “You have to understand”, Bobby’s dad states, still trying to make sense of it all, “we thought Bobby was going to a school for the gifted.” Miss Rogue speaks up at that statement, exclaiming “he is gifted, just not in the way that you want.” “We know that”, his dad says, stumbling over his words to justify his statement when his mom interrupts, saying, “we still love you Bobby. It’s just with this mutant problem, it’s a little…”, “what mutant problem”, Logan remarks, angrily crossing his arms. “It’s complicated”, Bobby’s ,mom finishes with a defeated sigh.</p><p>	Bobby’s dad, finally finding his words again, asks snidely, “what exactly are you a Professor of, Mr Logan”, judging him greatly. “Art”, Logan responds, sarcastically, glaring at Bobby’s father. Miss Rogue, in an attempt to get the attention off of Logan, says, “you should see what Bobby can do”, giving Bobby a “go ahead” look to demonstrate his power. He reaches out a finger to touch his mom’s tea cup, just as she was going to take a sip, and freezes its contents solid. She dumps the solid ice block of tea onto her saucer, placing it on the table in shock. “I can do a lot more than that”, Bobby states, proudly, to his family. This causes Bobby’s brother, who has been quietly brooding in one of the chairs, to abruptly stand up and leaves the room in a fit or jealous rage to head upstairs.</p><p>Another awkward silence falls upon us at Bobby’s brother’s departure that gets interrupted by the sound of ringing coming from Logan’s back pocket. He doesn’t realize he’s the source of the noise until everyone is looking at him and I poke him in the back, saying quickly, “I need to take this.” He pulls out, what I recognize as, an emergency communicator from his pocket and heads outside, leaving me unshielded for Bobby’s parents to stare questioningly at me. Feeling myself turn bright red, I rush to follow Logan outside, but not before hearing Bobby’s mom ask, “have you ever tried not being a mutant” as if it was something you can turn on and off. “No one’s left Jean. Soldiers came”, Logan explains into the phone as I join him. “What about the children” I hear the worried voice of Storm ask through the phone before it’s replaced by Jean asking worriedly, “what about Dani? Oh god, she must be absolutely terrified.” “Some of the children escaped”, Logan answers, “and Dani is safe Jean, in fact she’s standing right next to me. I’m not sure about the rest though.” “Where are you guys”, I hear Storm ask and he responds, “In Boston with Bobby Drake’s family. I have him, Rogue, and John with me along with Dani.” “We are on our way now and Logan, try to keep Dani calm”, Jean warns, “she tends to lose control of her telekinesis when she’s scared.” “Yeah, I know”, Logan comments with a wry smile, “she’s quite the powerhouse it seems”, before adding quickly, “make it fast guys.” He hangs up, pushing me back into the house with a worried, “come on, let’s get inside.”</p><p>	He locks the sliding glass door as soon as we’re both in, announcing to the others, “we have to go, now.” “Why”, Miss Rogue asks, concerned by his tone, but Logan just repeats, “NOW”, before extending the knives from before from both of his hands. We follow him out the front door, onto the porch, to find we are completely blocked off from escape by the police and various police cars. “Drop the knives and put your hands in the air”, a young, male police officer yells at Logan, pointing his gun at us. His partner, a female police officer, is on the other side of the porch. “What’s going on here”, Logan asks, confused, while trying to be rational, but the man isn’t having any of it. “I said drop the knives”, he demands and I gasp when I hear the distinct sound of breaking glass behind us, noticing more police officers are coming up behind us. “This is all just a misunderstanding”, Logan states, still trying to be reasonable, but the male police officer clearly doesn’t want to be reasoned with. “Put the knives down”, he continues to demand and Logan finally yells back, “I can’t.” “They’re attached to his hands”, I plead to the police officer, terrified they will shoot Logan. “Look”, Logan says, slowly raising his hands up to show the officers that he means no harm. Unfortunately, as soon as he retracts his claws, the man freaks out and shoots Logan in the head, making him drop like a ton of bricks.</p><p>	I scream at the loud noise, and the sight of Logan’s body, as the male police officer yells, “alright, the rest of you on the ground now”, threatening us with his gun. I start hyperventilating and Miss Rogue, noticing I’m slowly losing it, has to coax me to a kneeling position beside her. “Try to stay calm Dani”, she urges when the male officer shouts, “look kid, I said on the ground.” I look to see that John is still standing in defiance of the police and the female officer says, “we don’t want to hurt you kid”, pointing her own gun at him. He still doesn’t comply, and instead takes out his lighter. “You know all those dangerous mutants you hear on the news”, he states in a scary calm voice, flicking on the lighter. “I’m the worse one”, he finishes before using the lighter to create a fireball and hurls it at the two officers with his fire manipulation. The officers go flying off the porch, screaming, and John, with a smile on his face, starts to fling fireballs at the other officers and their cars.</p><p>	I let out an agonizing scream when I lose control of my telepathic barrier and begin to hear the panicked thoughts of all the officers, along with their actual screams, as John continues to set things on fire. Miss Rogue lets go of me, allowing me to curl into the fetal position as the terrified voices become unbearable. The sound of objects rattling in the house and on the porch signals to me that I’m losing control of my telekinesis, but John grunting in pain, as well as the fireballs stopping, allows me to try and rein in my control. The fearful voices start to lessen as the smell of fire begins to fade around me, replaced by the smell of charred objects. I flinch when a hand grabs my shoulder and gasp in surprise when I hear Logan say, “hey, HEY! It’s okay Dani, I’m okay, but you need to calm down. The jet’s here and we have to go.”</p><p>	I open my tear filled eyes and start to say something, but Logan covers my mouth, stating “no time to explain now kiddo.” He helps me to my feet, leading me towards the jet while I look around at all the destruction John caused with his fire. Police officers moan in pain from the minor burns they suffered as the uninjured officers go to help them. Movement out of the corner of my eye captures my attention and I turn to see the male officer who shot Logan, pointing his gun at us in disbelief. I don’t understand what came over me, but in anger I raise my hand and telekinetically yank the gun from his hand. I release the clip expertly, tossing it one way, before popping the one bullet remaining in the chamber out so I can toss the gun the opposite way of the clip. I glare at the male officer, dropping the bullet on the ground as he looks at me completely dumbfounded. “How did I know how to do that”, I think, breaking from the anger caused trance. Logan, in an effort to get me moving, picks me up and carries me the rest of the way to the jet. “You didn’t have to do that kid”, he says quietly, also surprised by my actions and I mutter, “maybe he’ll learn to ask questions first and shoot as a last resort now”, as a weak justification of my bizarre actions.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dani meets Nightcrawler and the jet gets attacked by the Air Force. During the struggle, Dani gets sucked out of the jet with Rogue and nearly plummets to her death when a mysterious force saves her life. Dani meets the Professor's friend Magneto, but is told by Logan that he's dangerous.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Who the hell is this”, Logan asks in confusion when we both see a blue man with pointed ears and a tail is sitting in one of the seats. “Kurt Wagner, but in the Munich circus I was known as the Incredible Nightcrawler”, he says proudly in an odd accent. “Yeah, save it”, Logan retorts, clearly unimpressed as he puts me into one of the unoccupied seats. “What a circus”, I ask curiously and he replies “doesn’t matter kiddo”, before yelling, “Storm?” “We’re out of here” Storm confirms and we all feel the jet take off into the air. Jean leaves the copilot seat once we are safely in the air to come check on me. As she gives me a hug, she whispers “I was so worried about you” in my ear. “I’m okay Mama”, I insist, “Logan was nice and made sure nothing happened to us.” “Well I’m glad you’re safe sweetheart”, she replies, letting me go. She mouths the words, “thank you” to Logan as she goes to return to her seat. He blushes a little, looking away from Jean and says “anytime.” “He like likes Mama”, I realize, “too bad she’s married to Scott.” “That’s enough out of you”, I hear Jean warn in my head. I feel embarrassed, but still reply, “at least Logan doesn’t pretend to like me. He even notices when I get timid unlike Scott. I like his scent too, his smell makes me feel at home while Scott smells like he bathes in motor oil. Jean doesn’t respond to my comments, but I can tell she’s a bit miffed that I admit I like the way Logan smells.</p><p>	After some time has passed, Logan stands up to walk over to Storm and Jean, “How far are we”, he asks, anxious and Jean answers, “we’re coming up on the Institute right now.” I relax in my seat, “we’re almost home”, I think when Storm states, “I’ve got two signals approaching, they’re coming in fast.” A stranger’s voice sounds through the radio, informing us, “unidentified aircraft, you are ordered to descend to 20,000 feet. You are to return to Hanscom Air Force Base. You have 10 seconds to comply.” “Wow, they sound cranky”, I comment and Logan, glaring angrily at John, sarcastically adds, “I wonder why?” John rolls his eyes, about to make a snide comment when the voice sounds again through the radio. “We are coming up alongside you to escort to Hanscom Air Force Base,” they say as two smaller jets fly up to either side of our jet, “lower your altitude now.” Storm looks at Jean as the voice says sternly, “repeat, lower your altitude to 20,000 feet, this is your final warning.”</p><p>	The jets fall back suddenly from sight when Storm doesn’t comply and the computer starts beeping loudly. “What’s that”, I ask, scared and Storm exclaims, “they’re marking us and going to fire. Hang on everybody.” She starts doing evasive maneuvers, making Logan quickly get back to his seat to buckle in, yelling “I gotta shake them.” She performs a barrel roll, flipping us upside down, and John pleads “please don’t do that again”, in a scared tone. “I agree”, Logan adds, looking pale as Storm continues to try and evade the jets. “Don’t we have any weapons in this tin can”, Logan yells at Storm and I notice the sky outside the jet’s window is growing ominously dark. “Whoa”, I realize in awe, “Storm can use her powers and fly a jet at the same time? That’s amazing!” Then the first tornado forms and we start to experience extreme turbulence. I start taking deep breaths in an effort to stay calm as the turbulence gets worse, and I can only imagine what the two jets tailing us are experiencing. Soon, the sky clears and the computer stops beeping instantly. “Is it over”, I ask just as Jean asks “everybody okay back there? Dani, you alright”, she adds seeing my slightly freaked out face. “Maybe”, I mutter, “can we go home now”, which makes her relax, knowing I’m still in control of my powers.</p><p>	We don’t stay relaxed for long because suddenly the computer starts blaring an even louder warning from before. “Oh god, there’s two of them”, Storm announces in a panicked voice and I yell, equally panicked, “two what?” “Dani, try to remain calm”, Jean orders me, “I’m about to do something immensely complicated and need to concentrate.” Before I am able to respond, I feel her start to use her telekinesis on whatever is chasing us and, after a minute, we all hear an explosion. “There’s one more Jean”, Storm warns, “do you have enough time to disarm it?” “I think so”, she answers, beginning to work on the last missile when I sense an increase in her anxiety. “There’s not enough time”, I realize, unbuckling myself from my seat to run for the back of the jet. “What the hell do you think you’re doing kid”, Logan shouts, trying to grab me as I pass and Miss Rogue yells, “I’ll get her.” I raise both my hands, envisioning the barrier I made at the Institute that prevented us from being shot, and start feeling my power well up inside me. “Dani, DON’T”, Jean yells when she sees what I have planned, “Rogue, stop her now!” I release my power into a shield just as Miss Rogue goes to grab me, but it’s too late. The missile hits my barrier, its blast penetrating through my shield, blowing a small hole in the jet. I feel Miss Rogue and I both get sucked out of the jet to start free falling in the air.</p><p>	The explosion discombobulates me, but even in my haze I notice the distance between Miss Rogue and I increase with every passing second. “Why am I falling faster then her”, I wonder, “and why do I feel so heavy all of a sudden?” A puff of dark smoke appears next to Miss Rogue and out of the smoke, Nightcrawler appears. He grabs ahold of her before they both disappear in another puff of dark smoke. “Teleporter”, I think, my head starting to clear and the gravity of my situation starts to sink in. Nightcrawler appears above me but, with how fast I am currently falling, teleported too far above me. He disappears again and I hear the voice of Jean in my head say, “Dani, you’re falling too fast for Nightcrawler to get you. I know you’re heavier than a tennis ball, but I need you to try and lift yourself long enough with telekinesis to slow your descent. You don’t have to stop yourself, but lowering your falling speed will enable Nightcrawler to get you.” “Okay”, I think back, focusing on myself to slow down with telekinesis. All I feel is a wave of exhaustion when I try and I realize, in a panic, I used most of my energy to make the failed barrier. “I can’t slow down”, I think to Jean, and let out a bloodcurdling scream upon the realization that I’m going to die when I hit the ground. “Dani, try to stay calm”, Jean pleads, but it’s too late.</p><p>	I continue plummeting towards the ground, unable to slow myself even more due to my panic taking over. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry”, I repeat over and over in my head when the strangest feeling comes over me. I start to slow down as the strange feeling spreads through my very bones and I realize it’s taking away the heaviness I was feeling earlier as I fell. I slow to a stop, floating in the air, before I feel myself get lifted up and I start ascending towards the jet. “Whatever you’re doing Dani, keep it up”, Jean says in encouragement, leaving me thoroughly confused. “I’m not doing this Mama”, I inform her, “I thought you were?” Her confusion confirms that this is most definitely not her and I get pulled into the hole in the jet, just before the hole closes behind me. Everyone is looking at me in confusion as I’m put back into my seat by the unseen force and rebuckled before it disappears. I slump in my chair, the heaviness coming back with a vengeance after having the feeling of weightlessness and I struggle to sit up in my seat. The jet begins to slow down now, just as I had, before it comes to a complete stop in front of a man with silver hair, his hand raised towards the jet. He smiles, saying something to his companion, a red haired woman with blue skin, which makes her smirk. The man gently put the jet down, activating the landing gear before he fully sets us down, and I realize he just saved our lives.</p><p>	Jean unbuckles herself as soon as we land, rushing over to me with worry. She begins to check me over for injuries and has a look of relief when she finds none. “I’m okay Mama”, I assure her, “I’m not hurt, just a little tired.” She pulls me into a hug, “you scared me out of my mind Dani”, she states, letting go to cup my face with her hands. “What were you thinking sweetie”, she asks and I look down as far as her hands will allow, muttering, “I was trying to help.” She lifts my face so I’m forced to look her in the eyes, informing me gravely, “Dani, you are extremely lucky. You could have been killed.” “I’m sorry”, I whisper as the others begin to unbuckle themselves to leave the jet, and she sighs. “I’m glad you’re safe”, she says, unbuckling my seat and helping me get to my feet. “But how did you get back into the jet if you’re so adamant it wasn’t you.” “I don’t know how to explain it,” I answer, following Jean, “it was as if something grabbed my bones and made me weightless. I guess I know what it feels like to be a marionette now.” She has a funny look on her face at my comment, but  doesn’t respond to it immediately. “We’ll discuss this later”, she informs me in her “don’t try and get out of this” tone, grabbing a toolbox and we both exit the jet.</p><p>	I got off last, since I was following Jean, and start to look around at our forest surrounding. My heightened sense of smell gets overwhelmed by all the new stimuli, I fail to realize the silver haired man has approached me. I jump at the sudden smell of iron and he says kindly, “I didn’t mean to startle you”, leaning down to get a better look at me. “And who might you be my young friend”, he asks with a smile that I return. “I’m”, I begin to say when Logan growls “get away from her Magneto” and puts himself immediately between us, crossing his arms. “My, how protective”, the man comments, “like a lion with their cub. Is she yours”, he adds with a wry smile. “Why do people keep thinking Logan’s my dad”, I think, confused, as Logan angrily states, “no, she’s not mine but you better back off anyways bub.” “Stop glowering and posturing Logan”, the man says, clearly bored, “you know I’ll always beat you no matter what.” He returns his attention back to me, “you may have heard Charles mention me once or twice”, he says, extending a hand, “I’m Erik Lehnsherr.” “You are the Professor’s friend”, I say, finally clicking why Logan called him Magneto, “most of the adults in the Institute call you Magneto.”</p><p>“Indeed I am child”, Magneto says, his smile widening before dropping in dismay when I add, “I thought you were in jail for something.” “Of course Charles would tell you that”, he states drily and I shake my head. “No, it was Mama who told me,” I reply, pointing at Jean. “Well did anyone bother to tell you WHY I was in jail in the first place”, Magneto asks and Logan answers sarcastically, “knowing you, for something horrible.” Magneto scowls, “I attacked a supposed military building that was actually a secret lab dedicated to the experimentation of mutants. You of all people should appreciate my efforts to free our mutant brothers and sisters,” he informs Logan angrily. “Unfortunately, and regretfully, they knew of my arrival and I found myself walking into a trap instead”, he says, and I can see that he was regretful of his failure. “Did you ever think the info you got was false,” Logan asks snidely, unconvinced by Magneto’s story. “When the information comes from a child who managed to escape the facility and begged for my help, no”, Magneto retorts. My heart leaps to my throat at the mention of a child. “They were experimenting on children”, I ask, quietly and Magneto looks at me in a brief moment of sadness before it’s gone. Changing the subject, he says “I do believe I asked for your name before the Wolverine interrupted.” “Oh, right. My name is Danielle, but please call me Dani”, I add softly, "the bad man made me afraid of my full name." The sadness returns to Magneto’s eyes and he gently smiles before saying, “it’s very nice to meet you Dani.”</p><p>He walks away, going to join Jean in discussing the jet’s needed repairs, and Logan says, “kid?” I look up at him to see he’s glaring at Magneto in anger. “Yes”, I ask, my mixed emotions swimming through my mind. He kneels down in front of me before he continues, “I know you just met me yesterday and that now Jean’s back I have no authority over you.” He looks me in the eyes in seriousness, “however, please take my advice and stay away from him”, he states, pointing at Magneto. “He’s a well known liar, so anything he says should be taken with a grain of salt. He’s known for manipulating mutants to his side with his words.” He goes to stand up, but stops when I whisper, “you’re called the Wolverine?” He looks at me, confused, “yeah, I guess it’s my codename, what of it kid?” “In my last nightmare the bad man and men in suits said they were going to make me like you, but stronger than my predecessor”, I say. “But they’re just nightmares”, I add when I see how my explanation affects him, “the Professor tells me not to dwell on them.” Logan really looks like he wants to say something, but is interrupted by Jean announcing, “can I get some help setting up the tents? It looks like we’re camping here tonight.”</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dani learns some scary things about a man named Stryker, and about herself and begins to try and bond with Logan, finding it easy to relax around him.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After the tents have been set up and we’ve all eaten, Magneto announces that there’s something he needs to discuss. Storm tells Bobby and John to go to their tent while the adults converse and John throws a fit. “Well how come she gets to stay”, he asks angrily, pointing at me, “she’s younger than both of us.” “Probably because she’s half asleep and won’t interrupt”, Miss Rogue counters as I prove her point by yawning. “Do you want to be the one to try and calm her down if she wakes up from a nightmare”, Jean asks in a scary warning tone, “she tossed Scott through a window once when he tried to help. She has the potential to seriously harm any of us when she gets scared.” “She did send all those soldiers flying like ragdolls at the Institute because she thought a bad man was going to capture and do horrible things to Logan”, Bobby adds in my defense, which only goes to piss John off to skulk away in a huff. “If it makes the older kids mad”, I say, yawning again, “I can try to sleep in the tent while you have your conversation.” “It’s alright sweetheart”, she assures me, “I also don’t want you out of my sight at the moment because I worry about you.” “Okay”, I respond sleepily, sitting by her legs so I can lay my head on her lap, and start to doze off.</p><p>	Magneto begins to tell the rest of the adults about some man named Stryker and what he has planned for the Professor. I’m slowly falling asleep, so I’m not registering everything he’s saying, but bolt awake when he shouts “he could kill us all.” I look up at Jean in fear and she starts to stroke my hair in an effort to get me to fall back asleep. “Wait a minute”, Storm demands, “how would Stryker even know where to find Cerebro in the first place” and that piques my interest. Magneto looks down guiltily, “because I told him”, he answers with regret, “I helped Charles build it, remember? Mr Stryker has powerful methods of persuasion, even against a mutant as strong as Charles.” “Mama, who is this Stryker”, I ask quietly, “is he a bad man?”</p><p>	Magneto hears my question and answers, “he’s a military scientist that has spent his whole life trying to solve the mutant problem. If you want a more intimate perspective, why don’t you ask Wolverine, or better yet, stop coddling the child. Dani probably knows more about it than anyone.” “Huh”, I ask confused while Logan states, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Dear me, you don’t remember do you, either of you”, he says, disappointed. “William Stryker, the only other man I know who can manipulate adamantium, the metal on your bones, carries his signature. How else do you explain how I saved young Dani’s life,” he asks, staring at Jean. I start to tremble, my breathing picking up as I remember bits of my last nightmare. The trees around us begin to creak around us before Jean snaps, “that’s enough Magneto, you’re scaring her.” He crosses his arms, “fine”, he replies, curtly, as he watches her kneel down to wrap her arms around me. Tears well up in my eyes as she rocks me, so she starts humming the usual soothing lullaby that calms me down and the trees stop creaking.</p><p>	“Why do you need us”, Storm asks, unhappy with Magneto and he replies, “we don’t know where the base is and I believe one of you might.” I feel his eyes on me, but looks away when Jean vehemently shakes her head no. “The Professor already tried”, Logan states, angrily and Magneto retorts, “once again, you think it’s all about you”, with snide sarcasm. He then looks up into the tree where Nightcrawler has been perched, who looks at everyone else in confusion. “Logan, try to keep Dani calm for me”, Jean asks with a sigh, “it looks like I will have to read Nightcrawler’s mind and it’ll be easier if she’s not clinging to me.” “Sure”, he says, sitting down on the log next to me. He looks at me awkwardly, most likely trying to decide if what Magento said was true, and I take a deep breath through my nose. “Uh, what are you doing”, he asks when I spontaneously crawl onto his lap and start cuddling him. “Your scent makes me feel safe”, I mutter, nuzzling my nose into his shoulder and feel myself begin to finally relax. “My scent”, he asks, clearly confused by my statement, but before I can explain Jean announces that Stryker’s base is located under a place called Alkali Lake.</p><p>	Everyone starts discussing plans for tomorrow as I begin to fall asleep on Logan’s lap. Jean doesn’t bother trying to take me back when she sees how much calmer I’ve become in his presence, despite his minor protest. “Save it Logan, you’ll be the one who’s going to have to carry her to my tent”, Jean replies, not too happy, “she’s always been heavier than her size would suggest and now I know why.” “You can’t be serious”, Logan says, unconvinced, “Stryker is sadistic, but not enough to do something like that to a child.” “We never knew”, she states, frustrated, “she’s extremely claustrophobic and nearly broke the CT machine when we attempted to scan her skeleton. It makes sense though, especially since I have no other choice but to believe Magneto saved her life. She has no metal on her, she described the feeling that saved her as ‘something grabbing her bones’, and I felt her confusion when I first suggested she saved herself.” “Well, if he did, Stryker that is, he’s a sick bastard”, he states, bluntly, “her growth will be stunted forever, if she continues to grow that is.” “I don’t know”, she answers, perplexed, “that’s the strange thing about all this. In the two years she’s been in our care, she’s grown a quarter of an inch. While that doesn’t sound impressive, it shows she can grow, somehow, despite the adamantium.”</p><p>	“But that’s a discussion for another day”, she says, and I hear her get to her feet. “Dani should get to bed and I have a Blackbird to try to make flyable before tomorrow.” He stands up, with me in his arms and, in my half asleep state, nuzzle my nose into the crook of his neck. “Amazing”, I hear Jean say, clearly surprised. “What”, Logan asks in confusion. “You are honestly the first person, outside the Professor and myself, that she likes and trusts enough to cuddle and fall asleep”, she answers. “She said something about my scent making her feel safe”, he replies, still not understanding my statement, as I feel him start walking. “Dani has heightened senses of smell and hearing, same as you”, Jean explains. “There’s something about how your smell to her that conjures up feelings of safety, protection, and, strangely, at home. It would appear she likes your scent more than mine now”, she adds, clearly trying not to sound jealous. “What’s not to like”, Logan teases and I hear a smacking sound, signaling Jean hit him. “Come on, my tents over here”, she says, not amused. “I hate to leave her alone, but I have to fix the jet.” “I can stay with her”, he suggests quickly, “outside if it makes you feel better.” I hear the sound of a zipper and soon Logan places me gently on top of a sleeping bag. “Fine”, Jean replies, and I can sense she’s regretting her decision a little, “but no smoking Logan.” “No problem”, he responds, following her back outside and zips the tent closed behind him. I smile, waking up enough to crawl into the sleeping bag, and find it easy to fall asleep.</p><p>	“Hey, hey, wake up kiddo”, I hear a voice call through my nightmare and I bolt awake gasping. Logan is looking at me with a mixture of worry and concern, especially when I start shaking from my fear. “You were having a nightmare,” he says, before adding awkwardly, “do you want to talk about it?” “It’s hard to explain”, I respond, looking down at my hands, “it’s mostly jumbled pictures,sentences, and feelings caused by the bad man, but now more voices have been added into the mix. Am I supposed to be a weapon”, I ask him, tears forming in my eyes. He sighs, “to tell you the truth, I don’t know”, he admits. “But, in my honest opinion, you’d make a horrible weapon”, he adds in a teasing tone, “you’re too timid and kind. If anything, you’d probably cute an enemy into surrendering.” That makes me smile a bit and I feel a little better but, before I can say anything, Jean comes rushing over. “How did you know she was having a nightmare”, Logan asks with a raised eyebrow and I explain, blushing, “I send out a psychic distress signal when I get scared or something. It’s how the Professor first found me. I sent out a signal of pain and fear that could be picked up all the way at the Institute.” “She also has no control over it”, Jean adds, sitting down in the tent with us, “which is why the Professor lowered her telepathic radius down to 50 feet. Otherwise any psychic could pick up her distress call.” “How’s the jet coming”, Logan asks, seeing how tired she looks and she sighs. “I have a least a couple more hours of work to do if we’re to get it into the air by the morning.”</p><p>	“Maybe we can help”, I suggest. “I really don’t want to go back to sleep right now”, I admit, quietly, as well. “You wouldn’t be that much help sweetie”, Jean starts to say, but Logan interrupts. “Nonsense, she can grab tools for us as we work. It’ll get the job done faster and you need sleep as well Jean”, he reminds her. “Please Mama”, I plead, “I want to be useful instead of the one everyone worries about. Besides”, I add impishly, “if I fall back to sleep and have another nightmare, you’ll come running again which makes the work take even longer.” She groans while Logan looks impressed by my argument. “Where did you learn that sort of manipulation and logic”, she asks in astonishment. “Bugs Bunny is my favorite Looney Toon. He uses logic to get himself out of situations and makes Daffy Duck mad in the process.” Logan laughs at my inspiration. “Whoever said cartoons aren’t educational was clearly wrong”, he chuckles. “Come on, if we all work together, we can all get some sleep before the night ends”, he adds, still grinning. “Alright fine”, she huffs, “you both win. Come help me fix the jet” as she gets out of the tent and we both follow her towards the jet.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dani talks with Magneto and later has a heart to heart with Logan.</p><p>Sorry this chapter is so short</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don’t remember when I fell asleep again last night, but I must have been out cold because I woke up in the tent with no recollection of how I got there. Jean is asleep next to me, which is a good indicator that she and Logan managed to make the jet flyable. I quietly exit the tent, not wanting to wake Jean, and wander away from the tent. I don’t wander far, not wanting to get lost, and only goes as far as last night’s campfire. I sit down on a log, closing my eyes, and listen to the peaceful sound of nature as the sun begins to rise above the treeline. A branch snapping startles me from my quiet meditation and I open my eyes quickly to see Magneto walking towards me. “I didn’t mean to startle you”, he says, noticing my fear, “I just wanted to apologize for frightening you last night, I honestly thought you knew the truth.” He sits down on another log, opposite me, and I mutter, “Logan says I shouldn’t listen to you and that you’re a manipulative liar.” “Well Logan isn’t here at this moment”, he answers dryly, “and I believe you are old enough to think for yourself.” He crosses his arms and adds, “you must have many questions that have never been answered I suppose, since Charles has this belief you should find the answers yourself.”</p><p>	“Not all the time”, I counter, “he is also willing to give hints to lead you on the right path. He also says life is about learning from one’s mistakes and that those who don’t learn are doomed to repeat them.” “Well, until humanity learns that we are here to stay and deserve freedom, not persecution, I will continue fighting against those who stand in my way,” he retorts, slightly angry. I shrink at his tone, but ask anyways, “have you ever thought if you took the first step towards peace, others might follow? Do you really want to live in a world where the only way people will accept you is through fear? Trust me, I live in a constant fear that the bad man will take me away and all it’s done is make me timid.” I quietly add, “living in fear is no way to live.” He starts to laugh, confusing me, and I ask, “what’s so funny?” “It’s nothing dear”, he assures me, “you just helped remind me what my real goal is for mutant kind and that the mind of a child is sometimes the best source of advice.” “Oh, okay”, I reply, still not quite getting it as he gets to his feet. “Thank you for saving my life”, I blurt out before he can start to walk away. “I’m sorry for not telling you last night”, I mutter, blushing, “I was a bit too preoccupied with my thoughts.” “You are a remarkable child”, he responds with a smile, “and you’re welcome Dani.”</p><p>	Slowly, everyone else wakes up, and soon we are boarding the jet to head towards Alkali Lake. “Why don’t we get uniforms”, John asks, staring at the extra uniform being put back into storage. “Yeah”, Bobby adds, “where’s ours?” “They’re on order”, Logan, dripping with sarcasm, answers, “should arrive in a few years.” This annoys John, especially when I start laughing at his annoyance, and he pushes past me with a “can it pipsqueak.” He sits down, playing with his lighter in frustration, and Magneto strikes up a conversation with him. I feel awkward knowing I’m the youngest one here and that no one probably wants to talk to me, but I still find myself walking over to Logan. “I have many questions”, I think, “and he’s the only one who has probably gone through what I did, so maybe he’ll understand.” He’s leaning against the wall, staring out the window of the cockpit, and doesn’t seem to notice my approach until I grab a hold of his hand.</p><p>	He looks down at me in surprise. “Can I help you kiddo”, he asks with a raised eyebrow, but doesn’t try to take his hand back. “Last night you asked if I wanted to talk about my nightmare”, I reply, a tad hesitant as I look at my feet, “um… I was wondering if maybe you would still be willing to listen. You don’t have to of course”, I add quickly, blushing, “I just thought it would help me to talk to someone who understands.” “Well when you phrase it like that I feel like I’m obligated to help”, he answers and I look at him in panic to tell him I didn’t mean it that way, but pause when I see he’s wearing a half smile. “You’re teasing me, aren’t you”, I state, giving him a small smile and see his widen into a full grin. “Come on kiddo”, he says, leading me away from the others and we sit down near the back of the jet. “Tell me only what you feel comfortable telling me”, he says, “I don’t want you to get upset.” I nod in agreement and take a deep, calming breath.</p><p>	“All my nightmares have one common theme”, I tell him, “there’s the fuzzy man with glasses.” “The fuzzy man with glasses”, Logan asks, looking for clarification and I look down in embarrassment. “I can’t remember much about him, so his features are… unclear. All I can remember is he wears glasses and has a cold, calculating voice”, I explain. “Usually I just see him before he uses my full name or X-2 to threaten me in some way. In one nightmare he addressed me as X-2 with praise to the men in suits, but beforehand he threatened to cause me a world of pain using my full name.” “Is that why you don’t like your name and use a nickname”, he asks, softly, and I nod. “The Professor called me by my first name once, the day they found me, to ask me a question and I had a panic attack. I thought he was going to hurt me”, I say, sad. Logan looks angry and worried by my statement, commenting, “how are you still functioning? From what you described in your nightmares, Stryker not only used you as a guinea pig but also psychologically, and most definitely physically, abused you.” “The Professor believes I have traumatic amnesia, so the only time I typically remember stuff is through my nightmares. He said my brain most likely blocked everything out to protect my sanity. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the bracelet, I wouldn’t have even known my own name.” “Bracelet”, he echoes, slightly confused and I point to his necklace. “It’s kind of like that”, I tell him, “but all it had was my name and X-2 on it. I threw it out though, it made me feel uneasy.”</p><p>	“Remember when I accidentally read your mind in Cerebro”, I say, in an effort to change the topic. “Honestly, that was a strange experience, kid”, he admits, “it was as if I was seeing images from my own nightmares mixed with similar images that were unfamiliar.” “That was because my mind, realizing you had similar images to mine, started doing a rapid compare and contrast”, I admit, blushing. “I typically have a decent control over my telepathy and keeping out of other peoples’ heads. Sadly, when I make physical contact, my telepathy has a tendency to link itself to the other person’s mind automatically.” “Are you saying that the images I saw but did not recognize were images from your nightmares”, he asks, horrified, and I nod. “Do you think, once this is over and we’ve rescued everyone, that I will have closure and stop being so afraid”, I ask, with hope in my voice. “I don’t know kid, I’m most definitely not a therapist”, he admits. “Well I hope it does because now, instead of the typical fear towards the fuzzy man, I feel angry and it feels… natural.” “It’s okay to be angry Dani”, he assures me, “you of all people have a right to feel angry. I also am angry at Stryker for, not only what he did to me, but what he did to you.” Maybe this will be closure for the both of us and he’ll no longer haunt our dreams once this is over”, I suggest and he gives me a side hug. “Once can only hope, kid”, he states, “one can only hope.”</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The adults infiltrate Stryker's base and Dani recklessly leaves the jet to find the man with glasses from her nightmares. She soon discovers that he is Stryker and he orders his female companion to kill her, much to Logan's dismay.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I watch as Storm has the jet make a 3D holographic map of the lake for everyone to observe. “All right, this is a topographic map of the dam”, she explains, “and this”, she adds, zooming into a specific section of the image, “is the spillway.” She points to something else on the map, but I have no clue what she’s actually pointing at when she asks the others, “you see these density changes in the terrain?” “They’re tire tracks”, Jean answers and Logan adds, “and that is our entrance.” “Now here’s the problem”, Storm continues, having the image show another thing I don’t understand. “This”, she points to something, “shows the depth of the ice covering the ground, and this”, a different version of the image appears, “is the recent water activity.” Jean sighs, understanding what Storm is getting at. “If we go in there, Stryker could flood the spillway”, she exasperates and Storm sighs, “exactly.” “Could you just teleport in,” Logan asks Nightcrawler and he responds, “I have to see or know where I am going otherwise I’ll end up in a wall.” With that option out, the adults begin to discuss ideas to get inside. I stare at the map, thinking and mutter under my breath, “maybe if we give him something that he wants he’ll let his guard down.”</p><p>	“What was that Dani”, Logan asks, being the only one who heard my muttering and I start to blush when all the adults look at me. I repeat louder, “what if we give Stryker what he wants? At the Institute, the soldiers kept yelling about the Wolverine and I”, I explain, “they seemed really keen on trying to capture me by any means necessary. Maybe we can trick him into lowering his guard by walking through the front door.” “I’ll go”, Logan says, quickly, “we wouldn’t want to put you in danger kiddo, but it’s a good idea.” Magneto is quick to dismiss Logan. “You would have no idea how to access the spillway doors”, he says, snidely, “what are you going to do? Scratch at it with your claws?” “Do you have a better idea”, Logan growls and Magneto points to his blue skinned companion, who he calls Mystique, and she morphs into a carbon copy of Logan. “Whoa”, I gasp in awe, impressed when I catch the Not Logan’s scent. It smelled a little like the real Logan’s leather and musky scent, but it was mixed with something foreign.</p><p>	“What if someone can tell the difference”, I ask in a panic, “I can.” Not Logan looks down at himself with a frown, confused at what was flawed in the transformation. “You smell kind of like Logan”, I explain, pointing to Not Logan, “but it’s mixed with some foreign element that makes my head scream there’s something wrong.” Not Logan scowls, crossing their arms, while the real Logan looks impressed by my deduction. “I see a future tracker in Dani”, he comments to Jean, but she chooses to ignore him. I continue to look at Magneto with questioning concern and he answers, in a dismissive tone, “I sincerely doubt anyone but you and Wolverine would be able to tell the difference. Not unless they’re psychic or have your clearly heightened senses, but the chances of that are slim.” I look at him, miffed, and Jean says, “don’t be upset Dani, it was a valid question.”</p><p>	“Will I be bringing Dani with me to sweeten the pot,” Not Logan asks and the response is unanimous from Jean, Storm, and Logan. “Not happening, she’s just a child”, Jean yells, “I don’t want to put her in danger.” Not Logan rolls his eyes and leaves the jet alone while Jean walks over to me. “Dani, I know it was your idea, but I need you to stay here with Miss Rogue. She will keep you, Bobby, and John safe while we go rescue the others.” “But I want to help”, I whine, sticking my lip out to pout. “I know you do sweetheart”, she says, cupping my face with her hands, “but the greatest help you can provide is to stay here, where it’s safe.” I try to protest again, but she silences me with her “don’t even try” look. “Okay”, I answer begrudgingly and go to sit down, still feeling disappointed. Less than an hour later, Mystique’s voice sounds over the radio, “I’m in”, signalling the next phase of the plan. “She’s good”, Logan admits to Magneto and he replies, “you have no idea”, with an odd tone. The others soon leave to join Mystique and I, slightly bored, open my mind to see if I can wander into anyone’s mind to see what’s going on.</p><p>	With some effort, I manage to slip undetected into the mind of a soldier and internally gasp upon what I see. The soldier is currently looking at a man that I recognize as the fuzzy man with glasses when he orders the soldier in a cold voice, “kill anyone who comes here, even if it’s me.” He’s a portly gentleman, with salt and pepper hair and beard with glasses on his face. I slip out of the soldier’s head when the man marches away out of the soldier’s sight, accompanied by some lady with strange looking eyes, and hear Miss Rogue asking me, “Dani? Are you okay? You zoned out and then gasped.” I look at her with a smile and telekinetically push her against a wall to allow me to make a run for the ramp’s controls. “Dani, what are you doing”, Miss Rogue yells, struggling to break free of my mental grip and when she sees me lower the ramp adds, “someone stop her.” Bobby tries to freeze my feet, but hits my barrier instead and I send him flying into John. Unfortunately, using telekinesis on the boys breaks my concentration on Miss Rogue and she starts to run at me. I take off running down the ramp with her screaming, “hey come back here.”</p><p>	Despite the fact I have much shorter legs and that I’m sprinting in snow, I manage to outdistance Miss Rogue and soon lose her in the woods. I’m able to find the adults’ trail through the snow and follow that to the entrance of the spillway, noting that I’m not even tired after my sprint. My feet echo loudly off the damp walls of the spillway as I make my way down the long tunnel and find myself entering a room filled with machinery and many dead bodies. I ignore the bodies, looking around the room thinking, “I’ve been here before”, as I wander into a room with tv screens, each showing a different part of the base. As I look at the screens, I see Jean walking down a hall with Magneto and Mystique on one screen, Storm and Nightcrawler heading towards the cell where the captured kids are being held on another, and Logan wandering around, looking like he’s a bit lost. “Maybe he’s looking for the man with glasses”, I think, watching him appear to be searching for something, “if I follow him, he can lead me to the bad man.” I head out of the camera room, focusing on remembering Logan’s distinct scent when a large explosion echoes the base. “What was that”, I wonder as I finally pick up on Logan’s scent and begin to follow it. As I walk down the halls, water starts to drip on my head and I look up to see small cracks in the ceiling leaking water. “That’s not a good sign”, I realize, but try not to dwell on it too much. Hearing footsteps coming down another hallway, I duck behind a column to hide and watch as the man with glasses, with his female companion, heads for a staircase that leads down. Neither of them notice me and I quietly follow them down the stairs to find myself entering a laboratory.</p><p>	“Stryker”, Logan growls, standing next to a tank of water with a glowing wall of skeleton pictures behind him. The man with glasses, who must be Stryker, pays Logan no attention as he walks around the room and I duck behind another column to avoid being seen by either of them. “The tricky thing about adamantium is that if you ever manage to process its raw, liquid form, you have to keep it that way”, Stryker explains, not caring that Logan is looking at him in anger. “You have to keep it hot, because once the metal cools, it’s indestructible.” I poke my head out from behind the column to stare at the man of my nightmares as he whispers something to his companion. “I thought you were one of a kind Wolverine”, he states, backing away towards a doorway, “I was so very wrong.” He looks at the woman and points in my direction, ordering, “kill her first.” That gets both mine and Logan’s attention, who turns to see me hiding behind the column. “What the hell are you doing here kid”, he yells, extending his claws, “get out of here.”</p><p>	He charges the lady, who hits him in the face, and sends him to the ground like he was nothing. She starts to stalk towards me, but Logan puts himself between us in a protective stance. “Kid, run”, he yells and I start to bolt for the stairs just as the lady extends claws of her very own from her fingertips. “Holy shit”, I hear Logan say in surprise, but I’m almost to the stairs to turn to see what’s happening. “Logan’s right, I need to get out of here”, I think, just reaching the bottom step. A burning sensation enters through my back and out my chest and I look down to see five long, very thin, pieces of metal sticking out of me. I struggle to breath as the claws exit my body and I collapse to the ground to find the lady standing over me with a satisfied look on her face. “No”, I hear Logan yell in pure anger, charging at the lady. He gets her away from me before she can stab me again and they start fighting viciously. “I’m going to die”, I think, my vision growing spotty as my ability to breath becomes harder and harder. “No, you aren’t”, my inner voice answers back as an odd feeling occurs in my wounds. I feel myself grow angry just as my inner voice states with blood lust, “now, kill the bitch.”</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dani gets into a fight with the lady who tried to kill her and attacks Logan afterwards.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>My eyes open and I marvel at how hyper focused the room has become as I find I am no longer having difficulty breathing. I get back to my feet while cracking my neck in the process, an action I have never done before now, and survey the room for my target. She just finished tossing Logan on top of a wire rack that dangles above the water tank and dangles underneath it to stab him repeatedly with one of her clawed hands. He roars in pain and I smell his blood as it drips down into the water tank below them. “She thinks I’m dead”, I think with a cruel smile on my face, “big mistake bitch.” I start sprinting at her, letting out an enraged scream as I launch myself into the air at her. She is taken by surprise and my flying tackle succeeds in knocking her from under the wire rack, away from Logan.</p><p>I expertly get back to my feet quickly and grab hold of her with my telekinesis to lift her into the air. “Impossible, how are you alive”, she gasps out, struggling to break free from my mental grip on her body and I start to laugh. “Nothing is impossible you fucking bitch,” I yell, slamming her into a column with enough force it starts to crack. In a sing-song voice, I inform her, “this is for stabbing me”, as every sharp, pointy object in the room, not attached to something, begins to float in the air. “Now die”, I snarl, letting loose the objects to fly and pierce her skin, making sure to hit all the vital spots. “How boring”, I comment when she sags in my grip and I let her drop to the ground with a clunk, “I thought you’d be more challenging.” I turn to glare at Logan, who is still on top of the wire rack, looking at me in shock. I sigh with an eye roll and lift my hand to grab him with telekinesis to get him onto the ground. “Behind you, she heals”, he shouts and I feel her claws slice my backside. I let out a roar of anger and turn back to my opponent just as she swipes at my face, satisfied she’s killed me this time.</p><p>	Her satisfaction drops to horror as the odd sensation of my skin knitting itself back together happens at my back and face. “Big mistake”, I growl and punch her in the chest with a telekinetically charged fist to send her flying across the room. She gets to her feet as I rush at her with another telekinetically charged punch and we start fighting each other. Almost by natural, I block several of her strikes easily and counter others with strikes of my own. “This is going nowhere” I think, as I get sent flying towards the water tank by her powerful kick to my stomach. The man, having jumped down off of the wire rack, goes to try and help me in the fight. “How do you kill an unkillable person”, I wonder when I hear the sound of boiling metal near my head. “You have to keep it hot, because once the metal cools, it’s indestructible,” Stryker’s voice echoes in my head and I suddenly have an idea.</p><p>	I yank the lady away from him towards me with telekinesis and lift her up in the air so I can slam her into the water tank. “What are you doing Dani”, he yells, fear lacing his voice when I let her face breach the water’s surface to breath. Again, she struggles to break out of my mental grip as the metal syringes with tubes attached to the vat of molten adamantium lift above my head. “Heal this”, I hiss, stabbing them into her body before activating the syringes to start injecting her with the adamantium. She looks at me in terror, but I don’t care about her fear, or her pain when she lets out a choking gasp. The adamantium I injected into her bloodstream starts to overwhelm her body and soon leaks from her eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. She lets out one final gasp before she convulses and goes limp as she dies. I drop her head and watch it sink to the bottom of the water tank with clunk, satisfied she’s not coming back from this. “That was cruel and unnecessary kiddo”, I hear the man say behind me, putting a hand on my shoulder. I spin around and blast him away from me using telekinesis.</p><p>	“What the hell kid, the fights over”, he yells, clearly confused, “you won so you can calm down now.” “Wolverine”, I growl in a cold, angry voice, staring at him with blood lust. “Dani”, Wolverine states, his hands out in front of himself in a nonthreatening manner, “this isn’t you. This is what Stryker tried to make you”, but I don’t listen to his words and go to attack him. I start to punch and kick at him while he growls, “dammit kid, I’m not going to fight you”, as he dodges my strikes, but doesn’t attack me back. This confuses me greatly, “this is not how the simulation went”, I think. Wolverine must see my momentary lapse of confusion because he says calmly, “Dani, it’s me, Logan. I’m not going to hurt you, but you need to calm down.” He starts to lower his guard to put his hands back on my shoulders, but I strike at him with a punch before he can. He grabs a hold of my arm, twisting me so my back is facing him, before wrapping his arms around me in a bone crushing hug. I growl and yell, struggling to break free from his grip as he says calmly in my ear, “easy there Wildcat. I’m not your enemy, please try to see that.”</p><p>	I stiffen in his arms when I take a sharp breath through my nose and the feelings of safety, protection, and home rush into my mind from his scent. I feel the rage inside me flow out, along with what just happened, as I go limp in Logan’s arms. In an exhausted tone, I mutter, “what happened”, to him in confusion. He lets out a sigh of relief, letting me go so he can kneel in front of me. “Nothing happened Dani”, he assures me, looking at the holes and blood that cover the front of my shirt, “you just scared the hell outta me.” He asks me to turn around and I oblige, feeling him gently probing my back with his fingers before asking, “does any of this hurt kiddo”, in a worried tone. “No”, I giggle, “it’s actually starting to tickle”, I admit as he turns me back around to face him. “The first stab must have reactivated your regenerative healing because Jean told me she never saw signs of you having that power”, he says in relief. “Huh”, I ask, not following. “In order for you to have survived the adamantium bonding procedure, you need to have a healing factor”, he explains, “I figured, since you were so young, that yours burned itself out trying to keep you alive.”</p><p>	“It can do that”, I say, scared and he answers, “for some people, yes. But, by the looks of it, yours is on par with mine. If it wasn’t, you’d most likely be dead from earlier”, he admits, “so consider yourself incredibly lucky kiddo.” I nod, finally understanding what he’s saying as he goes to stand up. “Let’s go”, he states and I reply quietly, “go where? Back to the others?” “No, we have to stop Stryker before he can escape”, he responds, “and you’re coming with me because there’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight.” “That’s fair”, I sigh and start to follow him when he pauses in his tracks. “What’s wr-AH”, I scream, as my brain feels like it’s being squeezed, and I drop to my knees beside Logan. He too is yelling in pain as, whatever is attacking my brain, is also attacking his. I fight the urge to pass out when the pain intensifies and sense a familiar mind. “Professor”, I think, confused when the pain abruptly stops.</p><p>	“You okay there Wildcat”, Logan asks when I let out a groan upon sitting up from the floor. “I think so”, I answer, getting to my feet, “the headache is already fading.” “Good”, he replies, getting to his own feet, “now let’s catch up to Stryker.” “Um… why are you calling me Wildcat” I ask, realizing he’s called me that twice now. He looks at me sheepishly and a little bit embarrassed when he answers, “it made sense in my head. When you attacked me earlier, I thought you looked adorable trying to be scary while wearing those cat PJs.” I look down at my clothes, realizing at this very moment that I have been wearing my favorite PJs since this fiasco first started. The brown sleep pants are covered with orange paw prints and the sleep shirt is white with brown sleeves, with the same pattern as the pants, and a cute tiger saying “Born to be Wild” on the front. The tiger now has some holes poked through them, stained with my blood, and I figure the back probably looks even worse. “I guess I’m going to need new PJs”, I comment regretfully, “too bad, this was my favorite pair.” “It’s the consequences of not listening to your mother”, he retorts, “and if you don’t like the nickname, I can stop.” “Please don’t”, I respond with a grin, “I like it. It sounds tough, like the Wolverine.” “Yeah, don’t get ahead of yourself kiddo”, he replies, curtly, “I may be tough, but Jean still scares me and she’s going to be pissed when she sees you.” He adds, “now we have to hurry if we are going to catch up to Stryker”, taking off in the direction we saw him go. I follow behind him, happy that he’s letting me come along, even though I should be terrified at the concept of getting in trouble with Jean for disobeying her.</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dani finally has a confrontation with Stryker and learns some of the truth about her forgotten past. Her and Logan also must rush to save the others before they can drown.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We make it outside in time to see Stryker busy unchaining the helicopter he was going to use to escape. Logan sneaks up behind Stryker, punching his face as he turns so he falls to the ground with a groan. He picks Stryker off the ground, slamming him into the landing gear of the helicopter before stabbing one clawed hand into the underside of his arm near the armpit. Stryker yells in shock and pain as Logan snarls into his face, “how does it feel bub?” I watch, my face blank as Stryker makes another shout of pain when Logan presses harder with his claws. “You’re a sick bastard, you know that”, Logan states, angrily. “It’s bad enough what you did to me, but to do that to a little girl is a whole different kind of evil.”</p><p>	Stryker starts laughing like this is all some joke, especially when he glances to see me staring at him with a cold expression. “My X-2, it’s wonderful to see you again”, he says, coldly, “I was afraid I had lost you when I saw how timid you were hiding behind that column. But, as usual, a good fight always brings out the animal I trained you to be.” “Who are we”, Logan demands, cutting Stryker off from saying anything else to me, “what family did you kidnap her from?” “You are just failed experiments Logan, and as for her family”, he laughs, “they abandoned her to her fate. The only thing she has left of her ‘family’ is the potential she inherited. Her powers were beyond my wildest dreams to study, especially since she activated them so young. And as for you”, he continues at Logan, “if I recall, you volunteered for the procedure. You see people don’t change, Wolverine. You were an animal then, and you’re an animal now. The only difference is I gave you claws and as for X-2, she may seem an innocent child, however, behind that young, cute face is a cold-hearted killer”, he states, spitting at me.</p><p>	I try to say something back in anger, but get interrupted by the sound of alarms blaring from the base. “What the hell is that”, Logan yells at Stryker and, when he fails to answer, threatens Stryker with his other claws, aiming them towards his throat. “What is it”, he asks one final time and Stryker groans, “the dam has ruptured, it’s gonna flood water onto the spillway. It’s trying to relieve the pressure, but it’s too late. In a few minutes we’ll all be underwater, but if you come with me, I can tell you both everything you want to know. You can’t help your friends”, he adds when he sees our looks of concern, “they’re as good as dead, but you two”, he chuckles, “you both are survivors. Always have been.” “Oh really? I thought we were just animals, and that’s why you gave me claws”, Logan responds coldly, dropping him to the ground to chain him to the helicopter. “If we die, you die”, he says with a finality and walks away from him.</p><p>	Stryker tries to struggle out of the chain, but I raise my hand and wound it around tighter to ensure he won’t escape. “You heard him”, I state when he looks at me in shock, “if we die, you die.” I turn to follow Logan when Stryker yells, “there are no exits that way X-2. If you come with me, I can tell you who your family is, who your parents are, and who you really are.” “I know who my family is”, I snarl, “and they are still inside so shut the fuck up.” I run to catch up with Logan, meeting him inside and he asks, “you’re telepathic right? Can you send a message to the others telling them the spillway isn’t safe?” “It might take too long”, I admit, “I’m still learning to find specific minds and it’s always Jean or the Professor who have to establish the mental connection to enable me to talk telepathically.” He groans, “okay, then try to keep up”, he responds and takes off in a dead sprint before I can ask him what he meant.</p><p>	I sprint after him, going as fast as can and push myself to my limit. It does not help that Logan is over a foot taller than me, but I do manage to keep him in sight most of the time. We arrive just in time to see the others heading for the spillway and, in a panic, Logan stabs a control panel which causes the first door to close shut. “You don’t want to go that way, trust me”, he states loudly for the others to see us just as water spews through the crack in the first door before the second door closes. I notice that Nightcrawler and Storm are currently holding the Professor up, since his wheelchair seems to be missing, and Scott is allowing Jean to lean on him so she can favor her right leg. “What is she doing here”, Scott yells angrily at Logan while Jean takes in the sight of all the damage and dried blood on my PJs. “What the hell happened”, she demands, “I told you to stay on the jet Dani.” “LATER”, both Logan and I snap as Logan adds, “come on, there’s another way out.” Jean is taken aback by my brazen tone and attitude, but I hear her inform me in my mind, “you are very much grounded young lady.” “Yeah, I figured as much”, I respond back, surprising her with my newfound confident attitude. “You’re different”, she comments aloud with worry and I retort, “I’m no longer afraid.” She exchanges a concerned, worried look with the Professor, but I ignore them to catch up with Logan.</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dani and the others try to escape the dam breaking, but the jet fails to start. Jean makes a sacrifice to save the others, but Dani has other ideas.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“The helicopter was right here”, Logan yells in frustration when we get outside to discover it’s missing. “Magneto must have taken it”, Jean says, tiredly, “he probably figured we’d send him back to jail.” “What are going to do though”, I ask worriedly, “we don’t have enough time to make it back to the jet on foot.” Then, I hear a familiar sound and cock my head in the direction of it. “Isn’t that the sound of the jet”, I think, confused, which is mirrored by Logan who hears the same thing. Suddenly the jet makes it above the treeline and I can see Miss Rogue, looking absolutely freaked out, behind the controls. She tries to land the jet nicely, but ends up doing a crash landing instead. “After we survive this”, Storm mutters, “I’m teaching ALL the teachers how to fly the jet.” The ramp gets lowered and Storm tells Nightcrawler, “please take him”, making sure he has a good hold on the Professor before taking off running for the jet. Nightcrawler teleports himself and the Professor away, causing me to sneeze at the smell of brimstone he leaves behind in his cloud of smoke. “Remind me to teach you how to deal with new scents without sneezing”, Logan teases as I rub my nose. “It’s usually only the overwhelming scents and dust that cause my sneezing”, I retort, “but I’ll take you up on that offer anyways.”</p><p>	Bobby comes out to help Scott bring Jean and the rescued students on to the jet and I go to follow them when I realize Logan’s walking off. “Where are you going”, I shout, following after him, “we have to leave.” I stop, noticing what caught his attention, and feel a surge of anger upon seeing Stryker. He’s now chained to the wall of the base and, when he sees us, asks “who has the answers? Those people, or…”, he doesn’t get to finish because he starts choking. I feel a hand on my shoulder, snapping me from my anger, and see Logan with a worried look on his face. “That’s enough Dani”, he states, calmly, “he’s not worth it.” I blink when I realize I have my hand raised towards Stryker and that the reason he is currently choking is me. I release my telekinetic hold on his throat, allowing Stryker to start coughing and gasping for air as Logan yanks off his necklace and tosses them at his feet. “You don’t have anything we want”, he informs Stryker, picking me up, “if the answers are important, then we’ll discover them on our own without you.” He starts to walk away with me when Stryker yells, angrily, “one day, someone will finish what I’ve started. One day, mark my words, this is only the beginning.” I react by giving Stryker the middle finger before quickly dropping it in shock. “You okay there kiddo”, Logan asks and I answer, “I’m fine, just don’t tell Mama about me giving the finger to someone”, blushing. He chuckles, “no worries Wildcat, your secret is safe with me. Now let’s go home.”</p><p>	We get on to the jet and see all the adults are panicked. “Why aren’t we leaving”, Logan asks, placing me in a seat next to the Professor before joining the others in the cockpit. “The crash landing messed with the previous repairs”, Storm explains with worry, “we’re trying to bypass the damage to enable us to get into the air.” Logan tries to help, but all that happens is the jet’s power fails and I feel panic rise in my chest. “Are you alright”, the Professor asks, trying to distract me from the situation. “I think so Professor”, I answer truthfully, “but I am starting to panic that the jet no longer has power.” “Jean was right earlier”, he states, looking me in the eyes, “you are different. What happened during your disobedient misadventure with Logan?” “Nothing”, I state a bit harshly, “I got some closure on what most likely happened to me in the past and realize that I don’t care anymore. The past is best left forgotten.” “You honestly don’t mean that”, he replies and adds, “do you”, with worry. Upon seeing I am serious, he goes to say something else, but pauses instead.</p><p>	“Jean”, he puzzles aloud and I glance around the jet to look for her. “Mama”, I call out in panic and Logan, hearing my distressed call, asks, “wait, where’s Jean?” “Oh my god, she’s outside”, Storm exclaims in horror and Scott bolts for the ramp. Despite the jet’s complete lack of power, the ramp closes and he is unable to run out to grab Jean. Suddenly, without warning, the jet powers back on and we can all hear the sound of the engine starting. “No, we’re not leaving”, Scott yells, “lower the ramp!” “Storm, please lower it”, I add in a pleading tone and Storm can only give us a defeated look. “I can’t”, she explains, at as much of a loss as we are, “she’s controlling the jet.” “You, get her now” Logan demands at Nightcrawler, who attempts to teleport, but finds he can’t. “She’s not letting me”, he replies, sadly, “I’m sorry.” “I know what I’m doing”, the Professor then says, his eyes closed as if he’s in a trance, “this is the only way.” “Jean”, Scott says, starting to cry, “please listen to me. Don’t do this”, he pleads to her. Jean, through the Professor, replies sadly, “I’m sorry, please take care of Dani. Goodbye.”</p><p>	The connection gets broken and I yell, “goodbye? What does she mean goodbye?” A huge wave of water comes crashing towards the jet, but is diverted by Jean while she continues to control and start up the jet. “Calm down Dani”, the Professor urges me, “you need to stay calm.” “NO”, I shout in anger, feeling a surge of energy begin to build in my chest, “I won’t remain calm. We are not leaving her behind!” The jet starts to take off into the air, leaving Jean behind to ultimately drown, and I lose all semblance of control. Instinctively, I raise my hands towards the ceiling of the jet, focusing on building my energy larger while Logan asks in a confused tone, “Dani what are you doing?” The Professor, seeing what I’m doing, shouts, “Dani, DON’T.” “MAMA”, I scream, releasing the built up energy and a rift appears in the air above us. Water splashes from the rift when Jean falls through it, looking wet and confused at what just happened. The rifts closes abruptly and my arms drop to my sides as I feel like I weigh a ton. “Mama”, I say weakly, getting her attention right before I fall to the floor with a thud. I struggle to breath as my body starts convulsing and Jean yells, “Logan, roll her onto her side, NOW. Whatever she just did has overloaded her brain and is causing her to have a seizure.” I feel myself get rolled to my side as I continue to shake and gasp for air. “What the hell were you thinking half pint”, Logan asks, not knowing I can hear him, as the Professor enters my mind. “Family”, I communicate through him, closing my eyes in weariness and feel myself let go.</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dani is weak from her efforts to save Jean and the adults begin to realize her new confident attitude is here to stay.</p><p>Thank you so much for everyone who's read this to the end. If you like it and wish to read more, don't hesitate to comment (I also appreciate the feedback) and soon I will start typing up the second installment.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One week later… </p><p>	I wake up to find myself in the familiar medical lab at the Institute and feel someone squeeze my hand. I turn my head, weakly, to see it’s Jean holding my hand with a tearful look of relief on her face. “Please don’t sit up”, she says quickly, as I struggle to do just that, “you’re much too weak at the moment. I ignore her and, despite her attempts to stop me, I make it into a sitting position. “I’m fine Mama”, I lie, fighting the urge to fall over, “I’m just a little tired.” She goes to call my bluff, but gets interrupted by the door opening. The Professor wheels in, with Logan and Scott following behind, and they all have expressions of worry and relief. “What did I do”, I think, miserably, trying to remember but come up blank. “Not again”, I mumble, thinking I have lost my memory again and the Professor, realizing what I had attempted to do, quickly asks, “how are you feeling Dani?” “Like I got run over by a truck, a train, and then a steamroller before being drained to an inch of my life for added measure”, I answer sarcastically. “Now”, I add with growing agitation, “what happened?” They look at each other with increasingly worried faces and I realize that it’s because of me. I have never been agitated or sarcastic before now and it’s apparently it’s more concerning than my question.</p><p>	“What happened”, I yell at them, anger boiling through me and they all look at me in shock. Jean touches my cheek, gently, breaking the silence caused by my outburst by hesitantly asking, “you don’t remember sweetie? About saving my life?” I shake my head and she continues, “Dani, you had us all terrified you were going to die. You’ve been in a self induced psychic coma for a week now. Not  even the Professor could wake you”, she adds, showing the gravity of the situation. “But how”, I ask, perplexed, “and why wouldn’t I remember?” “Your powers were already strong to begin with Dani”, the Professor explains, “but what you did evolved them further, allowing you to go beyond your current limit, and in doing so, display a level of power you never showed the faintest signs of possessing. By pushing your power beyond your control, you caused your mind and body to temporarily fail because you simply were not ready mentally or physically for it. So for your safety”, he adds, “whilst I was in your mind, ensuring you wouldn’t die, I placed barriers and locks on some of your powers that I deemed too advanced for your current level of control.”</p><p>	“Will I ever be allowed to have them back”, I ask, miffed that I didn’t even get a say in the matter. “Only when you are truly ready will the locks and barriers start disappearing”, the Professor answers. He then adds with his, “don’t push”, tone, “also if I see you tampering with any of the safety measures I placed upon you, I will force you to wear a dress and play with dolls for a week.” “Fine”, I agree, defeated, “you know I hate both those things Professor,” while Logan chuckles at how the Professor threatens me to behave. Now that he’s sure I won’t mess with the locks and barriers, the Professor continues the conversation by commenting, “Logan informed me that you helped save his life and that you appear to possess a healing factor like his.” “Yeah, a lady with claws stabbed me, but I don’t remember saving Logan’s life”, I reply, confused. “I do remember him calming me down so I must have freaked out from it.” Jean gives Logan a questioning look who just shrugs with an “I don’t know” expression. “I just wanted to apologize to you Dani. I suspected that Stryker was, in some way, involved in your past but I was afraid it would further damage your psyche if you learned the truth too soon”, the Professor says, regret filling his voice. “However, it would appear I was wrong and the knowledge has made you grow more confident instead.” “Logan helped”, I admit, smiling at Logan, “it’s easier to talk to him about it.” I think back to the base and remember Jean telling me I was grounded and asked, “am I still grounded Mama?”</p><p>	“While I am still very angry you disobeyed me and that you attacked Miss Rogue in order to escape”, she answers with disapproval, “I believe you’ve been punished enough already, especially since I will be putting you on bedrest for the next week. Just don’t make a habit of it or you’ll be grounded, okay?” “I’ll try not to disobey”, I reply with a blushing smile. “Well I for one still think she should have some form of actual punishment to ensure she doesn’t do it again”, Scott mutters under his breath and my smile turns into a scowl. “Well your opinion isn’t worth a grain of salt Scott”, I reply in a “matter of fact” tone that takes him aback. I continue my pissed rant, finally giving him a piece of my mind, by growling, “YOU called me a replacement and wanted nothing to do with me. You only pretended to be nice to keep Mama happy, but I could always tell it was forced. So you can basically just get over yourself and leave me alone.” Logan is clearly trying to hide a proud smile at me telling Scott off when Jean says, “actually Dani, Scott has agreed to be your adoptive father. After I stabilized you on the jet he told me he was sorry for how he’s treated you and promised to be a good father.” “WHAT”, I yelp in disbelief, “no way, he’s only doing this because I saved your life and clearly hates Logan.” I snarl at Scott directly, “I don’t care what a little piece of paper says, no matter what I am NEVER calling you dad.”</p><p>	“Where did this attitude come from all of a sudden”, Scott exasperates, “ where did the sweet, timid girl who listened and was respectful go?” I ball my hands into fists and, before I can retort back, he points at Logan and states, “this is somehow your fault.” “Excuse me? She grows a backbone to stand up for herself and that’s a problem”, Logan shouts. He looks ready to say some other things but the Professor interrupts their argument with, “enough you two. If you plan on continuing to argue might I suggest it be outside.” “The Professor’s right”, Jean adds, “Dani needs her rest, not to watch you start a meaningless fight.” “I don’t know”, I reply nonchalant, “I think it would be very entertaining and I’d love to see Logan kick his ass.” Scott starts sputtering at my blatant disrespect for him, and for my language, and yells, “this is definitely your fault”, at Logan. He storms out of the room with Logan following behind shouting, “if you want perfect obedience, get a dog, not a daughter.”</p><p>	Once they are out of earshot I inform Jean, “I’m not calling Scott dad and you can’t make me”, as I cross my arms in defiance. “As much as I love seeing you no longer being timid, don’t start developing a rebellious attitude young lady”, she tells me sternly. I falter, my face heating up from embarrassment, and I look down at my feet. She adds, softer, “I won’t make you call him dad, but I do want you to treat Scott with the same respect you give me because, like or not, he is going to be your adoptive father.” “Yes Mama”, I mumble, still looking at my feet. The Professor clears his throat, “Jean, might I have a word with Dani alone please”, he asks. “I think someone should probably go stop Logan and Scott before their fight escalates to blows”, he adds when he sees her obvious reluctance. She nods her head with a sigh, and leaves the medical bay so that the Professor can talk to me.</p><p>	Now that we are alone, the Professor says in an uneasy voice, “I’d feel better if you’d lie back down Dani. Despite your tough act I can see you are fighting the urge to pass out and I wouldn’t want you to fall onto the floor.” “I’m okay for now Professor”, I insist, “it’s also easier to talk to you sitting up, remember?” “Ah yes, how could I have possibly forgotten your early signs of stubbornness”, he replies, teasingly, “just don’t push yourself.” A silence falls between us and I start to fidget before putting my thumbnail into my mouth. “You are not in trouble”, he assures me, “I just have some minor concerns I wish to address.” I go to open my mouth, but he puts a hand up, stopping me. “Please”, he insists, “let me finish. You see, I’m concerned by what you told me on the jet before the almost catastrophe. I spoke with Logan and he filled me in on what Stryker told you, about how your family abandoned you to his experiments and torture. Is this the reason you said you no longer care and want your past to be left forgotten”, he asks.</p><p>	“Why would I want to remember a family that clearly didn’t care about me”, I retort. “According to Stryker, I inherited their potential which means they could have easily fought to get me back.” Anger rises in me as I hiss out, “I’m now a weapon because of them.” “This is another concern I have”, the Professor adds, worried, “you are beginning to show signs of increased anger and aggression since finding out some of the truth about your past and I’m afraid it’ll cause you to start lashing out. Did you really try to kill Stryker while he was chained defenselessly to a wall”, he asks, trying to look me in the eyes. I look away, too ashamed and afraid to see the disappointment I assume to be in his eyes. “I don’t know what came over me”, I finally admit, “I got angry and I guess it finally clicked that he’s been the reason for my nightmares and memory loss, so I lost control.” Tears form in my eyes, as I struggle to remain calm, and the Professor puts his hand on my knee. “Relax Dani, please. Like I said earlier, you are not in trouble. I only wanted to hear your side of the story and tell you that…” “I’m a cold blooded murderer and a monster”, I say dejected, cutting him off.</p><p>	“No”, he responds, giving my knee a squeeze. “I am proud that you were aware you lost control and let him go.” My tears escape down my face and I feel unworthy of his pride. “Only because Logan made me aware”, I cry out, “if he hadn’t been there I probably would have killed Stryker.” “Dani, look at me”, the Professor says and I meet his eyes. “Now I do not believe that and neither should you”, he states firmly, “you are more than what Stryker tried to make you and it’s your free will that allows you to walk away from the path he forced you on. But”, he adds, “that will be a discussion for another time. You should really get some more rest. You might feel a bit better at this moment, however, trust me when I tell you that the amount of stress you’ve put on yourself is not going to fade or heal in a week. You need sleep my dear.” I slowly lie back down on the table, not realizing how truly tired I really was until I almost passed out. “Professor”, I murmur tiredly, willing myself to stay awake just a little while longer. “Yes Dani”, he responds softly, touching my head. “Do you know if Logan will be going away after this”, I ask. “You see, he makes me feel safe when I’m around him and he seems to understand me as well as you and Mama without needing to be psychic”, I admit. “I was wondering if it would be possible to ask him to stay?” The Professor answers in my mind, “I don’t know the answer to your first question, however, I will convey to Logan your wish for him to stay”, as he removes his hand from my head. “Now please, get some more sleep”, he adds and I respond back to him in my head. “Thank you Professor”, I say, drifting off to sleep before he has a chance to leave.</p>
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